Topic: Effects of Hypercompetition
Comments by Vaibhav Pai
Tufts University
5/29/2015
Proposed Actions
There are no quick fixes for tackling the harmful effects of hyper-competition like conservative, short-sighted, incremental “me-too” research. One could think that increasing the NIH budget and funding might solve the harmful effects of hyper-competition. However, this or other possible quick fixes are treating the symptoms (harmful effects) and not the cause (hyper-competition). Essentially we would be just kicking the can down the road as the same exact problems will again manifest in future as the research workforce keeps increasing in size with stagnant if not reducing opportunities.
Comments on the Problem
It would be wiser to not focus too much on solving the harmful effects of hyper-competition but rather highly focus on solving the hyper-competition itself. Tackling the hyper-competition will automatically alleviate all the harmful effects that arise from hyper-competition.