fraction of the U.S. GNP devoted to R&D has 
diminished steadily over the last decade, falling 
nearly 25 percent from its peak in 1964, although 
the United States still leads all of the major R&D- 
performing countries with the exception of the Soviet 
Union. The U.S. decline is largely due to the reduced 
growth of expenditures by the Federal Government 
for R&D in defense and space exploration.* While 
the proportion of the GNP spent for R&D by the 
United States has declined significantly during the 
past 14 years, the percentage increased substantially 
in the USSR, West Germany, and Japan (Fig. 7-2). 
In 1974, the proportion of GNP directed to R&D 
was 2.3 percent in the United States, compared with 
3.1 percent in the Soviet Union, 2.2 percent in West 
Germany, and 2.0 percent in Japan. France is the 
only other industrial country evaluated that has 
shown a long-term decline in percent of GNP de- 
voted to research. 
The implications of R&D funding based on the 
NSF indicators suggest continued strong general 
support for R&D activities. However, if general ex- 
penditures for R&D continue to decline in terms of 
constant dollars, it may be necessary to make some 
difficult decisions respecting research priorities. Dis- 
regarding the massive commitments to “glamour” 
programs, such as space exploration and nuclear 
‘energy, Federal R&D funding has been more or less 
proportionately distributed among competing research 
activities.> Significant commitments of Federal funds 
to energy R&D in an all-out effort to develop alter- 
native energy sources could again result in an ex- 
panded R&D budget skewed toward energy applica- 
tion. Nonscience priorities, on the other hand, could 
co-opt potential Federal growth funds, thus either 
maintaining the status quo or heightening the com- 
petition for an even smailer piece of the constant- 
dollar Federal budget. 
Trends in Marine Science and Technology Funding 
For data on ocean-related R&D expenditures, one 
must rely on the data included in the National 
Oceanographic Program, which was compiled by 
the Interagency Committee on Oceanography (ICO) 
through 1966; the data subsequently provided in 
Marine Science Affairs, which was published by the 
Marine Science Council until its termination in 1971; 
and the data now included annually in the Federal 
Ocean Program. Unfortunately, inconsistencies in the 
definition of marine science and engineering pro- 
grams in the Federal budget and changes in the ac- 
counting procedures of Federal agencies prevent 
exact comparability among the time series data. 
During the period 1968-77 national R&D expen- 
ditures in terms of constant dollars continued their 
general decline (fig. 7-1); ocean-related R&D, on 
the other hand, remained steady over the same 
period (fig. 7-3). The activities identified in the 
“ocean research” and the “ocean engineering” cate- 
gories of the budget tabulations in the Marine Science 
Affairs and Federal Ocean Program reports (fig. 
7-3) are assumed to approximate, but not wholly 
reflect, Federal expenditures for marine science and 
technology. 
Because ocean-related R&D is but a small subset 
of the total Government-wide R&D program, oscil- 
lations in year-to-year funding are more pronounced. 
The surge of funding which spanned the 2-year 
period between 1970 and 1972 coincided with in- 
creased expenditures by NSF for the International 
Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) and additional 
obligations for expanded research facilities and cap- 
ital equipment. The inclusion of capital outlays in 
4NSF, op. cit. note 2, p. 4. 
5 NSF, op. cit: note 2, p. 41. 
Current 
dollars 
- 
S 
S 
S 
S 
S 
S 
2 
"OCnecoapsasenccesnccoce 
s000csceans, 
is BUTT 
= 
; Constant 1967 dollars 
1967 ‘69 aA) ‘13 ‘715 71 
Figure 7-3.—Federal expenditures for marine-related R&D 
1967-77 (million dollars). 
ViI-3 
