725,000 public sector jobs face axe, economist warns

lemonjelly

ILW wrote: »

Polio vaccine is something for the good of the world. The LCD is of purely commercial value, so no comparison.

Whoa there dude.

Assertion is that the public sector don't create anything.

Example is given of a public sector contribution to society, which was created, & has benefitted the majority of the human race.

Response is: "that doesn't count as it doesn't fit my arguement!"

Your logic is way flawed.

If vaccines are not of commercial value why do:
a)drugs cost so much
and
b) pharmaceutical companies invest so heavily in research?

Answer - because they saw how profitable it could be.

The comparison is absolutely valid and correct.

ILW

I would suggest that deciding not to patent a vaccine is a moral decision and open to debate as to whether right or wrong. The invention of a purely commercial item such as LCD should have been patented and a return given to the people who funded the research. ie the taxpayer.

lemonjelly

ILW wrote: »

I would suggest that deciding not to patent a vaccine is a moral decision and open to debate as to whether right or wrong. The invention of a purely commercial item such as LCD should have been patented and a return given to the people who funded the research. ie the taxpayer.

Are you saying that pharmaceutical companies are immoral & all drug patents should be removed?

ILW

lemonjelly wrote: »

Are you saying that pharmaceutical companies are immoral & all drug patents should be removed?

No I am not, but if they chose not to patent an item it is up to them.
When public money is used to fund a PURELY COMMERCIAL invention though, it is reasonable to expect the people who paid for the research and development to get a return.

tomterm8

thescouselander wrote: »

Also, some parts of the public sector do "Create" useful things - did you know Liquid Crystal Displays were invented in the UK by a public sector organisation? The same goes for many other inventions in common use today.

Well, another example is that the world wide web was invented by CERN, and the computer was invented in the University of Manchester, both using publically funded money.

Y'all wouldn't be able to call the public sector scum on this forum without the public sector having invested its money.

ILW

tomterm8 wrote: »

Well, another example is that the world wide web was invented by CERN, and the computer was invented in the University of Manchester, both using publically funded money.

Y'all wouldn't be able to call the public sector scum on this forum without the public sector having invested its money.

If they had pateneted this and a license fee of say £1.00 had been payable on every computer in the world, we would have had an education system that would be the envy of the world. Another opportunity missed by the public sector.

StevieJ

thescouselander wrote: »

Yes, its entirely true. Unfortuntly the opportunity wasn't taken to capitalise on the patent but thats really down to government policy rather than any wrongdoing on the part of the inventors.

It is also true that 55% of the important inventions in the history of planet earth have originated in little old UK (according to a Japanese study), I should imagine that many of the modern ones have come through public sector universities, patent should come first, the moralising later

marklv

ILW wrote: »

I would dispute your claim that most CS are front line, from the departments I have known there appear to be whole levels of lower, middle and higher managers who seem to do very little of any use to anyone.
PS. It was not me that called anyone scum.

You are a true idiot if you believe that an organisation can be run without managers. You need managers in any large organisation and it's for you to say who needs to be work where.

marklv

The_White_Horse wrote: »

it is irrelevant if people in the public sector pay taxes. you don't "create" anything. you just filter the same money around.

It's not the job of the public sector to create anything. The job of the public sector is to carry out government business, without which the nation cannot be properly governed.

StevieJ

tomterm8 wrote: »

Well, another example is that the world wide web was invented by CERN, and the computer was invented in the University of Manchester, both using publically funded money.

Y'all wouldn't be able to call the public sector scum on this forum without the public sector having invested its money.

Also Rutherford (from New Zealand) first split the atom at Manchester University, perhaps a more debatable benefit to mankind, although I think we have still to see how that will turn out (could be good or bad).