No R & D

Politicians like to say that we should not compete on cost with China and India, but rather move up the food chain and compete in high value areas. Great in theory, not really working in practise:

The European Union has fallen further behind the rest of the world in research and development spending according to new figures.

You see, we have screwed all the incentives that reward people for R&D, or reward those who pursue careers in science and engineering. At the same time, those with useless educational qualifications find ready employment in the state sector at good wages and without risk of losing their jobs. No doubt we will be told how governments should spend more money on research. You see when Socialism fails, socialists claim that the dose wasn’t high enough.