Male Circumcision 'A Surgical Vaccine'

So many people fail to understand how research grants stimulate the economy, yet it's so simple. If the money doesn't go to something "they" approve, it's considered a waste.

The stimulus arrived at a time when universities struggled to keep labs operating and salaries of science educators and researchers funded, Fluharty said in a telephone interview. Not only were schools hampered by endowments shrunk by the collapse of equity markets, they also faced a decline in research dollars and a rising backlog of scientists seeking them.

“There was a clogged pipeline,” Fluharty said. “The stimulus money couldn’t have come at a better time to jumpstart research.”

-Steve Fluharty, Senior vice provost, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Phila.

Money spent on non-public goods is always wasted and there is plenty of real economic research to prove it - ironically. That's getting off though on a huge tangent from the article.

Don't worry I am not a hypocrite who says the money should have been spent on my pet project instead. The money shouldn't have been spent at all. Maybe the economy would have starting showing signs of life by now otherwise. What I contend most people don't understand is how government spending depresses economic activity.

Perhaps we can compromise and have the government spend more money on economic research. Now that would be funny.