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Science Technology and the Economic Future edited by Susan Raymond
Money, as the Cabaret song goes, makes the world go 'round. Significant resource commitments are required in both the public and private sectors if research and development are to continue to provide the level of innovation that is needed to fuel future prosperity. But resource commitments are required in many sectors; science and technology do not stand alone in the investment line. And that line is long. How to make resource decisions, how to balance trade-offs, how to ensure that resources committed are producing results efficiently—are all complex problems for both public budgetary authorities and private corporate executives. Getting public and private resource investment decisions right is important; the resource stakes are high. In the United States, over $170 billion is invested in research and development. In countries such as Japan and Germany, the absolute resource levels allocated for R&D may be less, but the percentage of gross domestic product dedicated to R&D exceeds that of the United States. The commentaries that follow illuminate the varied, and often controversial, dimensions involved in making those resource decisions.
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