I think the academy is long overdue for a reckoning. The Assistants to the Assistant Vice Deans, the absurd grants in the soft sciences, the absurd increases in undergraduate tuition for degrees that make absolutely no sense.
The golden age of the academy is ending, and to pretend there is nothing to cut or make more efficient can only be the opinion of someone whose bread is buttered by the existing system
> The Assistants to the Assistant Vice Deans, the absurd grants in the soft sciences, the absurd increases in undergraduate tuition for degrees that make absolutely no sense.
None of this is related to research funding. Indeed, reducing spend on this could increase money available for research.
Fundamentally, the US has done well by investing in research (and by being a native English country), but it appears that's not something that the current government wants to continue.
And that's totally fine as a democratic decision, but don't pretend that this won't have economic consequences down the line.
Interesting choice of words but it throws all the rest of your assessment into doubt.
Especially your idea that your wife's research is worthy and then all the rest is less worthy.