Decline in U.S. science spending
threatens economy, security: MIT
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[April 27, 2015]
By Sharon Begley
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warning of an
"innovation deficit," scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology say declining government spending on basic research is
holding back potentially life-saving advances in 15 fields, from
robotics and fusion energy to Alzheimer's disease and agriculture.
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Science funding is "the lowest it has been since the Second World
War as a fraction of the federal budget," said MIT physicist Marc
Kastner, who led the committee that wrote "The Future Postponed"
report, issued on Monday. "This really threatens America's future."
The report lands at a time when federal spending on research has
become unusually politicized.
Cuts mandated by the White House's and Congress's failure to reach
agreement on reducing the federal deficit have chipped away at the
budgets of the National Institutes of Health and other science
agencies; legislation on research spending is tied up in debates
over, among other things, climate change.
Federal spending on research as a share of total government outlays
has fallen from nearly 10 percent in 1968, during the space program,
to 3 percent in 2015. As a share of gross domestic product, it has
dropped from 0.6 percent in 1976 to just under 0.4 percent.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2012/Jun/18/images/ads/current/ldn_sda_062409.png) The pullback comes as other countries are increasing science
spending, scoring achievements that leave the U.S. in the dust. The
European Space Agency landed the first spacecraft on a comet, and
China developed the world's fastest supercomputer, both in 2014.
Among the areas of research that are languishing, said the MIT
report, are new drugs to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Drug
companies see little profit potential in antibiotics, leaving
government as the funder of last resort.
Other areas ripe for breakthroughs include engineering viruses to
identify and destroy cancer cells; quantum computing (where China is
investing heavily) to improve speed and cybersecurity; and
artificial photosynthesis to boost food production.
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The report does not include price tags for any of this, and the
authors do not plan to push policymakers for any specific
legislation, Kastner said. Experts said that would limit its impact.
"It's fine to talk about research opportunities," said Michael
Lubell, director of public affairs at the American Physical Society.
"But the report is long on identifying needs and short on
identifying policy that will get us there."
Asked what it might take to reverse the decline in federal support
for science, Kastner said, "I wish I knew the answer."
(Reporting by Sharon Begley, Editing by Franklin Paul)
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