New York, NY - In his recent Forbes article, Mark P. Mills discusses the current and future of R&D in America. Citing his most recent report as a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, "Basic Research and the Innovation Frontier," he argues that basic research is more important than ever and it needs to be supported.
In his OpEd, "The federal government supplies 95 percent of all basic research funding. But that total comprises barely 10 percent of all R&D money spent in the economy. While it may be difficult, even impossible, to calculate the perfect ratio, there’s no doubt that basic science spending in America is on the decline. And the potential for radical decline is at hand as the pressure mounts for federal sources to 'accentuate the practical.' It is no surprise that government is where we find the most financial support for long-term and open-ended scientific inquiry. The modern roots for government support of basic research truly began contemporaneous with World War One and blossomed after the Second World War. Since then, the United States has been the world’s dominant idea factory, home to 34 of the world’s top 50 universities. American residents or citizens have been awarded more than half of all Nobel prizes in science, medicine, and economics. And America remains the world’s biggest economy, by a huge margin"
In his paper, "There is good news: the U.S. still boasts the world’s greatest concentration of scientists and leading research universities. What’s more, entirely new classes of research tools are emerging: from microscopes that view molecules in real time, to big data analytics that model or emulate reality, to cognitive computing that amplifies scientists’ explorations. In addition, private-sector spending on overall R&D—already fourfold greater than federal spending—is rising, although mainly in applied domains."
For the OpEd: http://www.forbes.com/sites/markpmills/2015/02/25/budget-wars-threaten-basic-science-and-future-innovation/
For the report: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/eper_15.htm#.VPI8DPnF_E5
In his paper, "There is good news: the U.S. still boasts the world’s greatest concentration of scientists and leading research universities. What’s more, entirely new classes of research tools are emerging: from microscopes that view molecules in real time, to big data analytics that model or emulate reality, to cognitive computing that amplifies scientists’ explorations. In addition, private-sector spending on overall R&D—already fourfold greater than federal spending—is rising, although mainly in applied domains."
For the OpEd: http://www.forbes.com/sites/markpmills/2015/02/25/budget-wars-threaten-basic-science-and-future-innovation/
For the report: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/eper_15.htm#.VPI8DPnF_E5
