Exporting our talent
Fascist Europe experienced a brain drain in the run-up to WWII. Among the European refugees who worked on the Manhattan project were Hans Bethe, Rose Bethe, Felix Bloch, S.H. Bohine, Niels Bohr, Hans Courant, Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, Leo Szilard and Edward Teller. Prizing ideology over intellect ended up being a loss for fascism and a gain for America.
Now, the script is reversing. As the United States slides into fascism and American universities are under assault by the Trump Administration, Europe is welcoming the export of American human resources.
“For example, on 7 March, the University of Aix-Marseille announced Safe Place for Science, a three-year, €15m programme to bring 15 American scientists working in climate, health and astrophysics to its campus. According to a university spokesperson, more than 60 applications have been received, 30 of them coming within the first 24 hours. The university indicated that it has been in contact with other universities and the French government about expanding “scientific asylum” on both a national and European level, and to help coordinate welcoming and relocating different researchers.”
€15m isn’t all that much, but it’s a down payment and it’s still early times in the Trump purge of academia.
“US federal government spending on all research and development (R&D) totalled roughly $195bn in 2024. That sounds imposing, but let’s put it into greater context. As of 2023, US GDP was $27.7tn and EU GDP was $26.5tn, when adjusted for purchasing power parity. Taken as a whole, both polities are roughly the same economic size. Let’s imagine that the EU were to put real money on the table to lure science of all kinds out of the US and to the continent. It wouldn’t need to match $195bn, euro for dollar, in part because more than half the US total is defence R&D, and the EU is already boosting defence spending … bigly. So, say it just picked a bold, round number that lends itself well to narrative, storytelling and headlines, and is enough to rope in the cuts happening in the US.
“A sum of €25bn a year would represent just under 0.1% of the EU’s GDP, and even less if the UK, Norway and Switzerland (all of which participate in the Horizon Europe research funding programme) were included.”
That’s just Europe. China will also be a magnet for American-trained Chinese scientists to return.
The devastating consequences for American disinvestment in its human capital won’t be felt immediately, but within a decade, other countries will replace America as the source of innovation while the Unites States marches proudly into third-world status.
Sad.
Europe is poaching American talent
Now, the script is reversing. As the United States slides into fascism and American universities are under assault by the Trump Administration, Europe is welcoming the export of American human resources.
“For example, on 7 March, the University of Aix-Marseille announced Safe Place for Science, a three-year, €15m programme to bring 15 American scientists working in climate, health and astrophysics to its campus. According to a university spokesperson, more than 60 applications have been received, 30 of them coming within the first 24 hours. The university indicated that it has been in contact with other universities and the French government about expanding “scientific asylum” on both a national and European level, and to help coordinate welcoming and relocating different researchers.”
€15m isn’t all that much, but it’s a down payment and it’s still early times in the Trump purge of academia.
“US federal government spending on all research and development (R&D) totalled roughly $195bn in 2024. That sounds imposing, but let’s put it into greater context. As of 2023, US GDP was $27.7tn and EU GDP was $26.5tn, when adjusted for purchasing power parity. Taken as a whole, both polities are roughly the same economic size. Let’s imagine that the EU were to put real money on the table to lure science of all kinds out of the US and to the continent. It wouldn’t need to match $195bn, euro for dollar, in part because more than half the US total is defence R&D, and the EU is already boosting defence spending … bigly. So, say it just picked a bold, round number that lends itself well to narrative, storytelling and headlines, and is enough to rope in the cuts happening in the US.
“A sum of €25bn a year would represent just under 0.1% of the EU’s GDP, and even less if the UK, Norway and Switzerland (all of which participate in the Horizon Europe research funding programme) were included.”
That’s just Europe. China will also be a magnet for American-trained Chinese scientists to return.
The devastating consequences for American disinvestment in its human capital won’t be felt immediately, but within a decade, other countries will replace America as the source of innovation while the Unites States marches proudly into third-world status.
Sad.
Europe is poaching American talent
Joel, Your conclusion absolutely nails it. As an old guy, I remember when science was king–eliminated polio, sent men to the moon, the green revolution, learned how to transplant human organs, warned of natural disasters etc. Certainly, scientists did not get everything right and there were its share of grifters and frauds, but to a young person it was a great time to be alive and the scientific advances were certainly more important to my sense of optimism than the politics of Vietnam or the Nixon Administration. So what happened? You could argue that the country is just more scientifically illiterate than when I was young. For some I am sure, it was organized religion which is the antithesis of science but as best I can tell the country is less religious than when I was young. I think it comes down to the politicians and not just Trump but the GOP whose policies are not very popular and so have to suggest alternate realities which does not comport with science. It really, does not matter but the human species did not survive by following myths and it is not going to survive now if it does not at least have science at the table. Unfortunately, Trump’s followers including all of the GOP, has rejected science in favor of magical thinking. Like monasteries during the Dark Ages, I am hoping that Europe and China keep the knowledge that the United States has rejected. It will be my grandchildren who will live in the third world country but I am thinking that I will live long enough to be living in a bona fide police state if someone does not step up and soon.