On the eve of Congress voting on the FY2009 budget, "R&D Daily" had a somber comparison of how the United States and China view research investment.
While the article focused mainly on private-industry investment, its overall message of the need to look long-term applies to government funding just as well. It is a message President Barack Obama has touted: the need to look past the next election cycle, and not just put out current economic fires.
In the face of such upheaval I would imagine most companies would continue to keep close counsel about R&D expenditures.
Not so the Chinese. R&D Global Funding Forecast, which was published in December 2008, predicts China will move gross domestic R&D funding up about 16% this year. That’s about $20 billion, or almost as much as Russia’s entire R&D expenditure. And most of this increase will come from industry (although many of these companies are government-owned).
The U.S. is expected to bump R&D spending by about $6.6 billion, but that's a much smaller percentage of a much larger R&D pie, more than 2.5 times China's. Will R&D expenditures remain a strategic priority? Of course. Nobody wants to miss the crest of an eventual return of consumer confidence and for the moment cuts will be reflected more in reduced energy and resource usage and, as we have seen, sharp reductions in workforce.
... But message is there: many Asian countries, including India and Korea, are ignoring their economic woes and will likely be eager to occupy any R&D vacuum we don't want to fill.
The article stresses the need to prepare the country for economic vibrancy down the road by funding research today. Obama has stressed that basic science is a key component of paving that pathway to future job security.
Traditionally, basic science has led to the game-changing leaps in technology that have produced new industries and jobs.
On this front too, the United States seems to be falling behind. A New York Times article quoted several studies tracking America's slide in global prominence for innovation and competitiveness, particularly in regards to science and technology.
A report last year by the Rand Corporation concluded that the United States was in “no imminent danger” of losing its competitive advantage in science and technology.
The new report, published on Wednesday, offers a more pessimistic portrait. Its assessment is in line with a landmark study in late 2005, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” by the National Academies, the nation’s leading science advisory group. It warned that America’s lead in science and technology was “eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength.”
