THE FIVE-YEAR OUTLOOK 



Billions of dollars 

 50 



40 - 



30 



20 



10 



Current dollars 

 Constant 1972 dollars 



FIGURE I. National R&D Spending by Character of Work. 

 'Based on GNP Implicit price deflator 



Source: National Science Foundation, National Pallerns of Science and Technology Resources, 1981. 



programs. The Soviets have almost surely been outspend- 

 ing the United States in military R&D in recent years 

 (NS). 



In summary, the financial resources available for the 

 conduct of R&D remain considerably greater in the Unit- 

 ed States than in any of the leading industrialized democ- 

 racies. However, several of those countries have been 

 closing the gap in total R&D investments as a fraction of 

 GNP. The Soviet Union spends a larger percentage of its 

 GNP on R&D than does the United States, and has been 

 closing the gap in total R&D expenditures. 



RESPONSIBILITIES AND RATIONALES KJR SUPPORT 



International comparisons are interesting and often use- 

 ful. However, since reporting bases differ among coun- 

 tries and inflation rates vary, the comparisons cannot be 

 taken too literally (NRC-I3). Importantly, such compari- 



sons cannot address directly, or provide answers to. the 

 question of whether U.S. support for science and technol- 

 ogy is adequate to meet the Nation's long-term needs. 



Both the public and the private sectors have respon- 

 sibilities for supporting science and technology in the 

 United States, but their missions and roles differ Their 

 proportional contributions vary considerably among the 

 industrialized democracies. In the United States, approx- 

 imately half the investments in R&D come from the 

 Federal Government, and. of those, well over half are 

 allocated for national security and space. The United 

 Kingdom and France show similar investment patterns. 

 That is. the government provides more than half the R&D 

 funds, and a major share of those funds is focused on 

 national security. 



In contrast, private industry provides the largest share 

 of support for R&D in West Germany and Japan. In both 

 countries, funds are more highly concentrated in areas 



