Federal funding for science and engineering

In 2007 universities and colleges in the United States spent just over $49.4 billion in scientific research and development. Of that total, more than 60% ($30.4 billion) came from federal sources. Although total federal support increased by a little less than $300M from 2006, that represents a 1.6% decline when adjusted for inflation. Its the second year in a row when federal support for scientific research and development failed to keep pace with inflation. Total research and development expenditures increased by only 0.8% from 2006 to 2007 when adjusted for inflation.

According to figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis the Gross Domestic Product of the United States increased by almost 2.4% from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007. In other words, the U.S. economy grew at three times the rate of overall U.S. investment in scientific research and development at colleges and universities.

I'm not going to claim that federal and non-federal funding for university-based scientific research should increase at the same rate as the overall economy, but surely we're eating our seed corn when the economy is growing three times as fast as our investment in university-based scientific research.

Hey, maybe this is something we should ask John McCain and Barack Obama about. Oh wait. It sounds a lot like question 13 of the fourteen questions both candidates have been invited to answer. Shawn Otto reported in a recent e-mail that both campaigns have said they will respond. I, for one, am looking forward to their answers.