Argentina's economic crisis could trigger scientific 'collapse,' researchers warn

[Judi Lynn]

Argentina’s economic crisis could trigger scientific ‘collapse,’ researchers warn
By Valeria RománSep. 27, 2018 , 5:15 PM

BUENOS AIRES—Argentine scientists are deeply worried about the effects of the country’s economic crisis on science. The government has proposed cutting research budgets in 2019 as part of an austerity push and it is behind in its financial commitments to institutes for this year, which means many labs lack the funds to pay for day-to-day operations. “The science and technology system of Argentina is collapsing,” warns molecular biologist Alberto Kornblihtt, who heads the Institute of Physiology, Molecular Biology, and Neurosciences of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Conicet) here.

The government has also decided to eliminate eight ministries, including the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Productive Innovation, created in 2007, which has now become part of the education ministry; former Science Minister Lino Barañao, a chemist, has become a government secretary. The demotion is “a major setback that can not be ignored by the community of scientists, engineers, and technologists,” the National Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences here wrote in a statement issued this week. “We are deeply convinced the Ministry’s elimination will not be a great contribution to solving” the economic crisis, the nine board members of Conicet wrote in a letter to Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

Macri’s center-right government on 19 September presented a balanced budget for 2019 that it hopes will please the International Monetary Fund enough to help secure a loan package to address the economic crisis. As part of the measures, Barañao’s budget will go down from 3.7 billion pesos (roughly $96 million) in 2018 to 3.4 billion pesos (about $88 million). With inflation factored in, however, that’s effectively a 35% cut, says Fernando Peirano, a professor at the National University of Quilmes here and a consultant for the Argentine Industrial Union. The National Commission of Space Activities will suffer a 20% funding cut, to 1.9 billion pesos. Conicet, which pays most researchers’ salaries, will see its budget go up by 27%, from 13.3 billion pesos to 16.4 billion pesos, but even that isn’t enough to keep up with the expected inflation rate for this year.

The cuts come just as Argentina’s scientific community was debating a national science strategy for 2030, says physicist Susana Hernández, president of the Argentine Association for Advancement of Science, who coordinates a coalition of 23 scientific associations. “The current belt-tightening policy is discouraging that initiative,” she says. “By lowering the budget, the government doesn’t make science a priority for the future.”

More:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/09/argentina-s-economic-crisis-could-trigger-scientific-collapse-researchers-warn

[sandensea]

1. Another chapter in the great Argentine brain drain.

Almost always courtesy of these semi-medieval right-wing governments.

While there had been a steady trickle for years, mostly in search of better opportunities, the first serious Argentine brain drain took place after the 1966 coup.

Over 1,500 academics left afetr the Onganía dictatorship began an ideological purge of university faculty. Many of those who left weren't themselves purged; but left because the atmosphere became too oppressive.

I might add that Onganía was actually more moderate than Macri - certainly on economic and social policy. He was an asinine little Napoleon though (and belonged to Opus Dei).

The problem continued during the tumultuous '70s; but it really took off after the dictatorship crashed the economy in 1981 after a Bush-style debt bubble.

The exodus of professionals, academics, scientists, and engineers continued unabated until the Cristina Kirchner years, when over 1,000 returned (a small share of the 20,000 or more who are estimated to have left since '66 - but the first time the trend had been appreciably reversed).

They returned mostly thanks to renewed public investment in the sciences - which in Argentina is mostly publicly funded. The improved economy and record living standards in the 2010-15 era helped as well.

That's all coming to an end now - as many warned it might.

Thank you for posting this, Judi.