1149 



toric commitment to industrialism. As the Cold War gained momen- 

 tum, the Nation's economy was gradually adapted to meet growing 

 foreign policy and defense requirements. Defense and space, high 

 priority needs in foreign policy, absorbed much of the vast energies 

 of the expanding American economy. Growth was stimulated by mas- 

 sive support from the Federal Government, not only in direct outlays 

 of funds for defense and space, but what is more important for con- 

 siderations on brain drain, in the form of research and development in 

 science and technology. R. & D. became one of the main catalysts for 

 brain drain of professionals from abroad. 



GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED R. & D. 



Data on the extent of federally supported R. & D. in the 1960's are 

 impressive. The total expenditure on R. & D. in U.S. industry rose 

 from $7,731 million in 1957 to $14,197 million in 1965 ; 55 percent of it 

 came from Federal funds. In 1965, the number of federally financed 

 R. & D. scientists and engineers totaled 162,000, or nearly half of all 

 such personnel (346,000) in industry. The Department of Defense 

 supported 59 percent and the National Aeronautics and Space Admin- 

 istration 30 percent of all R. & D. scientists and engineers employed in 

 Federal projects."^ 



During the years of 1958-66, the expansion of the Nation's science 

 and engineering manpower was dramatic. The number of R. & D. sci- 

 entists and engineers in industry increased by 47 percent from 243,800 

 in January 1958 to 358,900 in 1966. In the same period industrial 

 R. & D. funds increased by 84 percent. During this period R. & D. 

 scientists and engineers increased markedly in two industries closely 

 related to defense and aerospace: 43,300, or 90 percent, in electrical 

 equipment and communications, and 42,100, or 72 percent, in aircraft 

 and missiles. Federal financing was proportionately largest in these 

 industries, 63 percent and 88 percent respectively. "It is a striking 

 fact," wrote Brinley Thomas, an economics professor at the University 

 of Wales, "that no less than 74 percent of all-industry growth in em- 

 ployment of R. & D. scientists and engineers in the last 8 years 

 occurred in these two industries, largely governed by the defense and 

 space programs of the Federal Government." '^^° In 1966, the air- 

 craft and missile industry alone employed 28 percent of all R. & D. 

 scientists and engineers.^^ 



Comparative figures on United States and West European R. & D. 

 underscore the intensity of the American commitment to science and 

 technology. Spending in 1969 for R. & D. amounted to about $24 bil- 

 lion annually in the United States, more than two-thirds of which was 

 federally financed. Western Europe with a much larger population, 

 spent only $6 billion annually. And though the population of Britain, 

 France, West Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands totalled nearly 

 that of the United States, these countries put only about half as many 

 scientists, engineers and technicians in R. & D. : the United States em- 

 ployed 1.2 million ; the five West European nations, 519,000.2«2 



="* Thomas, oo. cit., pp. 40-^41. 



280 Ibid., pp. 41-42. 



281 Ibid., p. 42. 



«2 Adams. Talent That Won't Stay Put, p. 77. 



