WSJ: Commentary: America Gasps For Breath In the R&D Marathon

Commentary: America Gasps For Breath In the R&D Marathon
The Wall Street Journal 07/27/05
author: Vinton Cerf
author: Harris N. Miller
(Copyright (c) 2005, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

America will soon find its grip on the levers of international commerce slipping as we turn our backs on a proud tradition of technology innovation. The stewards of our national destiny are busily tightening the tap on the federal R&D budget, the most important source of funding for programs that seek to answer fundamental questions of science and technology.
...
The U.S. is already lagging behind in R&D funding. Our total national spending on R&D is 2.7% of our GDP, and now ranks sixth in the world, in relative terms, behind Israel (4.4%), Sweden (3.8%), Finland (3.4%), Japan (3.0%) and Iceland (2.9%). The federal government's share of total national R&D spending has fallen from 66% in 1964 to 25%.

Wow, 66% to 25% that is a big drop. Many articles are starting to point out this disturbing lasck of interest in our future. I assume they are thinking the free market will create R&D spending, but it doesn't work that way. Companies are interested only in the next quarter's profits, plus the global nature of companies doesn't necessarily mean that technology will be developed within the U.S. anymore.

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