Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Its why China is technologically eating everyone else's lunch when it comes to renewables and battery tech. Their government dumped massive amounts of money into R&D and building out manufacturing and mining infrastructure.

Heck, it's why the US has been (not for long) a leader in medicine. We've historically dumped huge amounts of money into medical research through the NIH.

Biomedical companies don't like research, they like making money. Research is expensive and by its nature filled with deadends. A biomedical companies would much rather take and run with cheap (to them) NIH research.




China is also clear on the timetable they will turn off the subsidies in order to consolidate the market into the strongest survivors.


Businesses like clear timetables which is the opposite of what Trump is doing right now. So no matter your theories about tariffs what he is doing cannot be good for business.


this narrative doesn't sound right. There isn't very much preventing anyone in any given other country from using NIH research. Moreover a substantial amount of NIH research grants goes to PIs or postdocs or grad-students who are Chinese nationals who then advance their careers back to their home country.


Universities concentrate experts, and that leads to local economies. That's why SF is right outside of Stanford. Google wouldn't be there if that wasn't where Stanford grads lived. The stories about the Chinese government's tremendous efforts to repatriate skilled professionals (like giving them entire factories to run) come about as a result of the fact that they're working against a strong default of staying in the same place.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2025 batch! Applications are open till May 13

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: