Somehow, it seems like during the Cold War (50s, 60s), there were fewer scientists and the quality of the output was higher. Not sure if that is the case, or su

Somehow, it seems like during the Cold War (50s, 60s), there were fewer scientists and the quality of the output was higher. Not sure if that is the case, or survivorship bias. But if it is the case, what was different about the system back then? To play the devil's advocate: scientists in industry/corporations do not come out of nowhere - they come from academia. Will the academics not move to countries where academic research is better funded? The students will follow. Corporations will set up their research labs in those countries near the universities to poach the best talent. Suddenly, your country is at a disadvantage.