Panicky short term cuts (with long term detriment to come) is certainly what it looks like to me. As a valued colleague put it, "short term pain for long term pain!"
Hetan ShahI’ll be force feeding my piece down your throats bit by bit for the next few days. This is about why loss of research capability in universities isn’t just a linear bit of market forces but a messy process of universities sometimes doing panicky short term cuts