Increased state funding in all sectors of research is now being advocated in the name of a new economic theory called Endogenous Growth Theory (EGT). Here, Terence Kealey and Aram Rudenski (Cambridge University, UK) argue that this new model of scientific funding, devised by Stanford economist Paul Romer in 1990, is inherently flawed--as was the model before it--and will not lead to economic prosperity as governments hope.