They've argued that global science doesn't apply to the unique conditions in California.
While others streak ahead in the global science race, we will begin to languish.
Many analysts point to rising foreign competition, as does the European Commission, which also monitors global science trends.
"For a country [Sweden] that takes its contribution to global science so seriously, this situation is simply unacceptable," Horton wrote.
It is global science's best assessment – hedged with probabilities and acknowledging uncertainties – of where we are.
He pointed to initiatives like the Google Science Fair, an online, annual, global science competition for teenagers, as an example.
But a strong science base is crucial to our ability to play a part in, and benefit from, global science and technology developments.
When we spend public money on research and development we are enriching our human resources and buying our entry ticket into global science and technology networks.
He says we either watch the university system slowly go bust and lose its place as a global science leader, or choose a different path.
Andrew Coates, who works on the ExoMars rover at University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, said: "The science of 2020 is a huge chance for Europe and Russia, and the global science community, to get more information on whether there was or is life on Mars.
This has been a Varmus concern too, though as N.I.H. director his effort to establish international programs to combat malaria and launch a global "science corps" foundered as a result of turf battles and financing problems.
