[specialist]

Ya, "brain drain" is probably not the right metaphor. But you get the gist: Smart people have more opportunities in finance.

As you know, funding for academics, scholastics, and basic research has been on a decades long decline. The West's investment in knowledge production peaked in response to Sputnik. As the Cold War wound down, neoliberalism and the "peace dividend" replaced that commitment.

Too bad.

Maybe climate crisis, our new existential threat, will be another Sputnik moment.