Money fills that gap. Monetary standards are easily codified, can be universally applied, give the impression of objectivity, evoke a sense of possession, and are transferred easily from source to user. The alternative measure, less stable and tangible, is trusting a necessarily subjective process of collegial evaluation. Those of us in academic medicine and biomedical research daily face difficult choices concerning money, and these pressures are putting academic medical centers on the endangered species list. One of those choices is how academic physicians use every minute of their day.
Time is critical to inventive thought.
Yet the opportunity costs are high for an academic physician who spends time in thought. Patients could be seen. Social utility could be increased. Bills could be sent. Assets could accrue.