Michael Kratsios, former U.S. CTO and architect of the Trump science agenda, defends the administration's reallocation of research funding, argues that pulling the RCP 8.5 climate scenario ends a false emergency, and diagnoses a productivity crisis in American science despite a $47 billion NIH budget. He lays out an ambitious timeline for quantum computing, fusion, and returning to the Moon, while warning that China's research spending has surged twenty‑fold and most STEM PhDs are now non‑American. The conversation closes with a stark assessment of Anthony Fauci's legacy and a critique of an aging scientific workforce.
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Highlights
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Pushing Back on the 'Anti-Science' Label01:56
Kratsios argues the administration is not anti‑science but rather reallocating priorities, citing a Nature poll that many scientists feel the government is hostile and pointing to $8 billion in DEI‑related grants as wasteful.
The administration pulled the extreme RCP 8.5 climate scenario, arguing it was used to justify a 'climate emergency' that does not match the current emissions trajectory.
Eroom's Law and the Productivity Crisis in American Science13:45
Despite a $47 billion NIH budget, Kratsios suggests American science has stagnated, pointing to Eroom's Law—the observation that drug development productivity per dollar is declining exponentially.
Moonshots: Quantum by 2028, Fusion by 2035, Boots on the Moon by 202822:24
Kratsios outlines the administration's 'big bold bets' including a viable quantum computer by 2028, a working fusion reactor by 2035, and returning U.S. astronauts to the moon in 2028.
Kratsios highlights the growing disparity in STEM talent and funding: China's research spending went from $33B to $670B, and seven out of ten STEM PhDs in the US are non‑Americans.