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This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study, prepared at the request of the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on the Budget, examines recent trends in federal support for research and development and the current state of knowledge about the economic effects of that support. Private businesses are the largest sponsors of research and development (R & D) in the United States; however, the federal government has long provided significant support for R & D activities to both supplement and encourage private efforts. The government finances research and development through spending and tax benefits that give businesses an incentive to increase their R & D spending. This study addresses questions such as whether the current level of spending is appropriate, what returns taxpayers receive for public investment in R & D, and whether funds are allocated to areas of inquiry and projects that will provide the highest return on that investment.--Preface.
The United States faces a new challengeâ€"maintaining the vitality of its system for supporting science and technology despite fiscal stringency during the next several years. To address this change, the Senate Appropriations Committee requested a report from the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and the Institute of Medicine to address "the criteria that should be used in judging the appropriate allocation of funds to research and development activities; to examine the appropriate balance among different types of institutions that conduct such research; and to look at the means of assuring continued objectivity in the allocation process." In this eagerly-awaited book, a committee of experts selected by the National Academies and the Institute responds with 13 recommendations that propose a new budgeting process and formulates a series of questions to address during that process. The committee also makes corollary recommendations about merit review, government oversight, linking research and development to government missions, the synergy between research and education, and other topics. The recommendations are aimed at rooting out obsolete and inadequate activities to free resources from good programs for even better ones, in the belief that "science and technology will be at least as important in the future as they have been in the past in dealing with problems that confront the nation." The authoring committee of this book was chaired by Frank Press, former President of the National Academy of Sciences (1981-1993) and Presidential Science and Technology Advisor (1977-1981).
The past 50 years have witnessed a revolution in computing and related communications technologies. The contributions of industry and university researchers to this revolution are manifest; less widely recognized is the major role the federal government played in launching the computing revolution and sustaining its momentum. Funding a Revolution examines the history of computing since World War II to elucidate the federal government's role in funding computing research, supporting the education of computer scientists and engineers, and equipping university research labs. It reviews the economic rationale for government support of research, characterizes federal support for computing research, and summarizes key historical advances in which government-sponsored research played an important role. Funding a Revolution contains a series of case studies in relational databases, the Internet, theoretical computer science, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality that demonstrate the complex interactions among government, universities, and industry that have driven the field. It offers a series of lessons that identify factors contributing to the success of the nation's computing enterprise and the government's role within it.
The contributors to this volume explore the implications of government funding of scientific research and offer alternatives to the heavy reliance on government support that research and development (R&D) currently enjoys. Each author squarely confronts the problems arising from the idea that government funding of R&D is and ought to be the norm.
For the past three-quarters of a century, the United States has led the world in technological innovation and development. The nation now risks falling behind its competitors, principally China. The United States needs to advance a national innovation strategy to ensure it remains the predominant power in a range of emerging technologies. Innovation and National Security: Keeping Our Edge outlines a strategy based on four pillars: restoring federal funding for research and development, attracting and educating a science and technology workforce, supporting technology adoption in the defense sector, and bolstering and scaling technology alliances and ecosystems. Failure could lead to a future in which rivals strengthen their militaries and threaten U.S. security interests, and new innovation centers replace the United States as the source of original ideas and inspiration for the world.
New knowledge and continuing innovation have been major factors in increasing economic well-being. Private businesses are the largest sponsors of research and development (R & D) in the United States, producing the discoveries that in turn lead to new products and services and the growth of productivity; however, the federal government has long provided significant support for R & D activities to both supplement and encourage private efforts. The government finances research and development through spending -- fiscal year 2007 appropriations for R & D activities total $137 billion -- and tax benefits that give businesses an incentive to increase their R & D spending. Studies of federally supported R & D provide multifaceted but incomplete answers to questions about those governmental activities: whether the current level of spending is appropriate, what returns taxpayers receive for public investment in R & D, and whether funds are allocated to areas of inquiry and projects that will provide the highest return on that investment. Results of the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) economic analysis of federal support for R & D and its review of trends in the data over time indicate the following: Over the 1953-2004 period as a whole, federal spending for R & D has grown, on average, as fast as the overall economy; Distinguishing between research and development is important in evaluating the effectiveness of the government's R & D spending and the benefits it may provide; Federal funding of research -- particularly of basic research -- is generally viewed favorably because of its large potential for spillovers and the corresponding economic benefits; Studies of federal spending for basic research in the past, particularly studies of research conducted at academic institutions, have estimated that the average returns from that spending exceed the returns that might have been gained had those resources been put to other uses.
The United States faces a new challenge--maintaining the vitality of its system for supporting science and technology despite fiscal stringency during the next several years. To address this change, the Senate Appropriations Committee requested a report from the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and the Institute of Medicine to address "the criteria that should be used in judging the appropriate allocation of funds to research and development activities; to examine the appropriate balance among different types of institutions that conduct such research; and to look at the means of assuring continued objectivity in the allocation process." In this eagerly-awaited book, a committee of experts selected by the National Academies and the Institute responds with 13 recommendations that propose a new budgeting process and formulates a series of questions to address during that process. The committee also makes corollary recommendations about merit review, government oversight, linking research and development to government missions, the synergy between research and education, and other topics. The recommendations are aimed at rooting out obsolete and inadequate activities to free resources from good programs for even better ones, in the belief that "science and technology will be at least as important in the future as they have been in the past in dealing with problems that confront the nation." The authoring committee of this book was chaired by Frank Press, former President of the National Academy of Sciences (1981-1993) and Presidential Science and Technology Advisor (1977-1981).