Separation of Science and State

[Angrboda]

There are downsides as well as upsides to government entanglement in science. For any generalization that you are likely to draw, it will be met with a host of exceptions. So it really needs to be determined on a case by case basis, and as Nudger reminds us, government is essentially a reflection of the will of the people. Where that will is corrupt, government influence on science will be corrupt. It's not clear however, whether science operating on its own independent of government is or is likely to be any less corrupt. Again, it has to be taken on a case by case basis. There are horror stories of government supported science, but there are also horror stories of science funded by the private sector as well, though the two may differ in character. I could do without the Tuskegee study, but I can also do without sky-high insulin prices and drug makers leaving the vaccine market due to its lack of profitability.