So much to say. I went through the whole academic cycle and moved to industry... about 15 years ago. I can't put it any other way than: the professors and PIs are abusing their employees. It has worked for some time because there were always enough people ultra-motivated to work in science for the prestige and other perks, but now, the economy is such that people can no longer do that (science job + family + mortgage = unhappy).
The right way to think about this is in terms of long-term politics and the success of nations. If you disincentivize national research, your country will fare worse than its competitors. For me, that's the US- if the US doesn't turn around the incentive systems for doing high quality academic research in the national interest, we will eventually be at an economic disadvantage to China.
The right way to think about this is in terms of long-term politics and the success of nations. If you disincentivize national research, your country will fare worse than its competitors. For me, that's the US- if the US doesn't turn around the incentive systems for doing high quality academic research in the national interest, we will eventually be at an economic disadvantage to China.