Poll: Does the Government Spend Enough on R&D?

Greetings:

Criticisms appear regularly in print regarding the U.S. Government not allocating enough funds for basic research and development. The argument goes that most, if not all other, governments of industrialized nations do spend a lot of taxpayer money on R&D as well as heavily subsidizing private manufacturing. This goes for both the military and commercial realms.

Many would argue that no, the Fed does not spend nearly enough to offset the “unfair” advantage provided to our international competitors by their (sometimes collective;, e.g. the EU) governments. However, many of the same people define attempts to assist businesses through tax breaks or other considerations as “corporate welfare.”

I am of the belief that the U.S. government spends way too much of my tax dollars on propping up its own grossly bloated bureaucracy and on well-meaning but criminally inefficient social programs (consider the cost of pandering to illegal aliens, as a recent headlines example). Instead, IMHO, those dollars should be funding unprecedented levels of R&D by both universities and industry. Rather than perpetuating the welfare class by encouraging and rewarding slothfulness, increase the opportunities for advancement in society by providing basically unlimited access to productive endeavors. Those who are able and decline will be left behind by their own choice, while those who are truly not able will be the deserving the beneficiaries of a benevolent society.

By the way, do not even bother arguing about the money “wasted” on defense. If it were not for our strong defense, your opportunity would be determined by what your conquerors decided was the best use for your talents. Recall that during WWII, the Nazis used Jewish PhDs on assembly lines to assemble munitions for Germany.

Comments (other than on wasteful defense spending)?

Oh, since RF Cafe is visited by folks from many nations, there are options for you vote about your own country's R&D spending.