Research and Development: Essential Foundation for
U.S. Competitiveness in a Global Economy
Our hope is that there will be full employment, and that the production of goods and services will serve to raise our standard of living…Surely we will not get there by standing still, merely by making the same things we made before and selling them at the same or higher prices.
We will not get ahead in international trade unless we offer new and more attractive and cheaper products…There must be a stream of new scientific knowledge to turn the wheels of private and public enterprise. (Vannevar Bush, 1945)1
U.S. Basic Research: A Need for Serious National Attention
U.S. industry and the Federal Government are the primary pillars of financial support for the U.S. research and development
(R&D)2 enterprise. The National Science Board (Board) observes with concern the indicators of stagnation, and even decline in some discipline areas, in support for U.S. R&D, and especially basic research, by these two essential patrons and participants. A decline in publications by industry authors in peer reviewed journals suggests a de-emphasis by U.S. industry on expanding the foundations of basic scientific knowledge. More specifically, research contributions by U.S. industry authors in the physical and biomedical sciences through publications in peer reviewed journals have decreased substantially over the last decade. In addition, in this century the industry share of support for basic research in universities and colleges, the primary performers of U.S. basic research, has also been declining. Likewise, Federal Government support for academic
R&D3 began falling in 2005 for the first time in a quarter century, while Federal and industry support for their own basic research has stagnated over the last several years. These trends are especially alarming in light