It is truly remarkable how few supposedly intelligent science majors intending to pursue doctoral degrees and careers in science understand the concept of supply and demand or the significance of price information:
Michelle Amaral wanted to be a brain scientist to help cure diseases. She planned a traditional academic science career: PhD, university professorship and, eventually, her own lab.
But three years after earning a doctorate in neuroscience, she gave up trying to find a permanent job in her field. Dropping her dream, she took an administrative position at her university, experiencing firsthand an economic reality that, at first look, is counterintuitive: There are too many laboratory scientists for too few jobs.
That reality runs counter to messages sent by President Obama and the National Science Foundation and other influential groups, who in recent years have called for U.S. universities to churn out more scientists. Obama has made science education a priority, launching a White House science fair to get young people interested in the field.
The ironic thing is that many scientists and science students simultaneously complain about science pay being too low while calling for more science education. So, not only are they ignoring the information being provided by the price – the low pay signifies that there are too many scientists – but they are actually seeking to make the problem worse by increasing the already glutted supply!
Forget permitting these clueless wonders to run society as per the scientific technocracy of their utopian dreams, I find it astounding that we even let them vote. As for the politicians, we already know they don’t grasp the link between price and supply or they wouldn’t be so intent on immigration amnesty, among other things.