Quantum computing next (very) cold war? US House reps want to blow billions to outrun China The US House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is concerned the United States could fall behind Russia and China if something isn't done to accelerate development of quantum computing systems. As such the leaders of the panel – chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) and ranking member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) – have introduced a law …
Any time politicians get involved in technology it seems to result in nothing good. Its not that I believe wholeheartedly of "the Power of the Market" or anything like that but its obvious that they're being reactive rather than proactive and that's never a good sign. Laws themselves are also not good ways of encouraging technologies -- all lawmakers can do is direct some funding and mess with regulations, an open invitation for every carpetbagger to pile in to the trough.
Funding basic research is something that's best left to the experts -- DARPA, for example. The best thing Congress could do is tackle fundamentals such as education and side issues like student debt (and, while they're about it, debt in general).
"The best thing Congress could do is tackle fundamentals such as education and side issues like student debt (and, while they're about it, debt in general)."
Dead simple, the students that have taken out loans need to pay up and the government needs to stop making the loans which have had the affect of skewing the education system. Once government backed, simple to get and undischargable in bankruptcy loans became the norm, colleges scrambled to add courses of study that would appeal to more students even if those degrees were absolutely worthless in the real world. What exactly to you do with a degree in "Gender Studies"? Do your prospects improve if you spend even more and go for a Doctorate? As far as getting financing, it's not a problem. Coupled with almost no eduction in the latter years of school for most US students in personal finance and economics, they expect that those kids will be able to make a considered decision about incurring massive amounts of debt. Congress could do some work in the very least to cap loans in a way that's tied to expected earnings in a particular field relevant to the degree being sought. A Masters in art history can lead to a well paying job for a museum or historical society, but the number of jobs in that field is in the double digits worldwide. On the other hand, a degree in mechanical engineering with a specialty in rotating machinery or an BSEE with an emphasis in analog sensors can find good paying work with lots of choices even when the economy is in the dumps. (ask me how I know).
Fear of missing out on Quantum is just the same play as the fear of missing out on the Strategic Defence Initiative, and look how that worked out for the evil empire - spunked trillions and collapsed economically, we then found out it was all bullshit. The same is going to happen again with quantum, but who is doing the bullshitting this time?
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