U.S. R&D Spending Growth Lags Behind Growth of National Economy

According to a new brief from the National Science Foundation (NSF), preliminary 2011 data indicates that U.S. total research and development (R&D) in 2011 was $414.0 billion (in current dollars), an increase of $7.3 billion from 2010 totals ($406.7 billion). These results mark the second straight year of growth in U.S. R&D expenditures following a $1.8 billion decline in 2009 — only the second decline in current dollars since the early 1950s. However, these growth rates, 0.7 percent in 2010 and 1.8 percent in 2011, were well behind the pace of gross domestic product (GDP) expansion in both of these years (4.2 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively). The report also looks at preliminary R&D data by performers, funders, character of work and intensity. The brief also looked at Worldwide R&D expenditures, which totaled an estimated $1.341 trillion in 2010 with an average 7.1 percent annual growth over the past 5 years. Read the brief...