Odyssey and MER Budgets Cut |
Odyssey and MER Budgets Cut |
Mar 24 2008, 09:11 PM
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#1
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 3 Joined: 12-March 08 Member No.: 4062 |
Just found out today at a MER all-hands meeting that both MER and Odyssey will each be suffering an immediate $4 million budget cut to help defray the cost of MSL. Read more here: http://martianchronicles.wordpress.com/200...rs-budget-cuts/
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Mar 26 2008, 08:17 PM
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#2
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 25-April 05 Member No.: 362 |
Following the resource allocation question to a natural conclusion leads to an uncomfortable place. If you have to choose between Titan, Io, Mars then why can't I throw into the mix some astronomy, or High Energy Physics, or developmental biology, or gene therapy or anti-malarials, or hospitals or.....
The free-market has its faults but is a good way of allocating resources - invisible hand etc. Absent that all you have is politics, which explains why academia seems to be the bitchiest world of work. Budgets trundle along fine so long as all play the 'last year plus 5%' game, as soon as you have the full-blown debate then what usually happens is: 1 - Special interest group 1 makes its case 2 - Special interest group 2 makes its case 3 - Huge bun fight ensues with much blood spilt 4 - Higher outside authority called in to mediate 5 - Higher authority solicits opinion from further external special interest groups 6 - Second round of bun fight now fought at higher level 7 - Higher authority decides he's had enough and defunds special interest groups 1 and 2 Long story short, either planetary science moves into some form of free-market system (philanthropy?) or it has to broker a back room deal that avoids this debate getting toxic. |
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