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.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Doomsday Bunkers for What? "Preppers" Are Idiots

Top 10 Ways to Not Suck at Driving

Coming in from the Cold: Climate Sceptics move mainstream