Update. The Association of American Universities (#AAU) defense of US higher ed is a bit better. It doesn't focus narrowly on the economy.
https://www.aau.edu/newsroom/press-releases/meeting-moment-facing-americas-research-universities
But it ends on a jarring note of #nationalism.
"America cannot afford to pause for one second in our race with #China and other competitor nations – nations who are doubling down on their investments in university-based research into crucial emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing."
I want US research to be #OpenAccess, and fully available to China and every other country. BTW, I want the same for Chinese research and research from every other country. Taking the nationalist argument seriously makes it an argument against OA, which also makes it an argument against current federal policy (#NelsonMemo) and against the interests of all US universities. Let's remember that science is international. Let's defend open access, not nation-limited access. And let's defend US universities because they're universities, not because they're in the US.
#Academia #Universities
@academicchatter