US R&D Spending - By the Graphs

Fundamental research is often highly valuable in terms of long term economic growth. When nations want to get ahead (or to catch up) they focus R&D spending onto areas of interest. The US is not the leading nation in the world as a percentage of GDP (though thanks to our vast GDP, we are still the biggest R&D spender.) It is still among the leading nations however.

In an interesting shift, the private sector has come to provide more of the R&D money. Some complain that this shifts the spending to later in the process: companies do not pay for basic research. But I do not think that is true, and I am dubious about the involvement of the government in the first place.

However, in a not very encouraging trend, we have become advanced technology importers. Now, I dont know enough about this graph, but it is said to include medical equipment, robots and aerospace items. I wonder how much of this is tied to Airbus alone, and I am not a believer in protecting US industry. Rather, I believe the US should be a technology and service leader, and that way stay ahead of the pack. The graph shows that we have much work to do on that front. I really do wonder though if this is tied to only manufactured goods, in which case I feel it is pretty meaningless.