One does not necessarily need a healthy environment for the next generation of scientists if there is already a surplus of them willing to work in rather sordid conditions, and if there is a surplus of scientific discoveries that can be easily capitalized upon with few workers. Or if there is a surplus of science being done elsehwere. The system optimizes for short-term production and growth, and a good environment for science everyhere is not necessarily optimal for that.
Probably more efficient for rentism. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking
It destroys the very conditions for the next generation of scientists being raised.