Editing The Precariat (section)

=== A Market Failure in Plain Sight ===

Weinstein argues that scientific labor is structurally undervalued. Researchers produce ''public goods'' — discoveries that benefit everyone and cannot be restricted — but receive compensation inconsistent with their societal value. This is a form of "market failure," since the system rewards administration and extraction rather than creation.

He wrote in 2023 that scientists generate wealth that flows away from them:

{{Tweet
|image=Eric profile picture.jpg
|nameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1626466602542854146
|name=Eric Weinstein
|usernameurl=https://x.com/EricRWeinstein
|username=EricRWeinstein
|content=You see scientists create what economists call a '''MARKET FAILURE''' in the form of a '''PUBLIC GOOD'''. That is the '''VALUE''' our scientists create isn’t captured in the '''PRICE''' they can command even in a free market. Then we broke our contract to take care of them  by sharing downstream wealth.
|timestamp=6:20 AM · Feb 17, 2023
}}

This condition, he maintains, distorts priorities. It leads to a society that treats knowledge as an afterthought while consuming its results.