National R&D Funding by Source: 1953 - 1999
Notes:
Before we begin looking to the future – I want to step back for a minute and examine a few current trends that deserve our attention.
We can start with the latest data for National R&D spending. The recent trend continues: total dollars are up, but the Federal share is down.
Total national R&D funding has never been higher. It now amounts to more than $240 billion.
But, its character has changed:
- Private sector investment is increasing and is increasingly product focused.
- Federal sector investment is decreasing as a share of the total -- and investments in research at the frontier are waning.
- Both are increasingly more development than research.
In 1999, the federal government provided only 27 percent of all R&D funds in the US.
That’s the lowest level since we started collecting the data!
A decade ago, the federal share was 46 percent.
Three decades ago, the federal share was 60 percent.