Federal laws can have sweeping impacts.

The net result will be a crash in the number of post docs.

I get it, that the whole point of post docs and grad students is to have slave labor. But a small bump in NSF and NIH funding can pick up this extra cost. And maybe that's only fair. The economic return on Fed govt science funding must be something like a hundred to one so a little bump for this is reasonable. And fair.

Right. No sweat. Double the cost of a post doc, add in the fringes and indirect costs, and try to squeeze all of that into a $100K per year and still have money available for the actual research. Good call.

The bottom line is at least 50% of the post docs in the system will be instantly unemployed.

Shall we go after medical residents next? Are you willing to foot the bill for quadrupled "labor" costs during your next hospital visit? "Slave labor." Damn, I love socialists!

But I agree we don't want to reduce research. We need to be educated to understand that the NSF and NIH are the greatest investments imaginable and that they should be lavishly funded. For my whole life life expectancy has increased a month or two every year. That alone is worth all the taxes I have ever paid. You and I agree we need to assure research continues at current levels. I just want you, I assume, and other researchers to be properly rewarded.

Glad you understand the process.

I'm sure that those post docs, who are now unemployed rather than making $28,000 annually, really understand why their path to gainful employment was just terminated.

Well, at least half the number of post docs employed previously can live the lavish lifestyle of $35,000 per year ... oh,wait. It's now cheaper to hire an hourly helper or a PhD candidate, so most post docs will now be fully screwed. But for a really good cause.

We can all take comfort in the knowledge that one person on this thread is thrilled that "slave labor" has ended.

Demographic changes in the electorate will cause a tidal wave of more progressive elected officials. I think they will be willing to approve fair wages for grad students and post docs. I am sorry you expect a bleaker world.