Although President Bush has yet to submit a detailed budget, the document that he released Feb. 28 shows that he plans to cut the research and development investments of some agencies and freeze the budgets of others. This has set off alarm bells in the research community. Unfortunately, support for many other scientific fields has been stagnant. For a variety of reasons, allowing this imbalance to continue would be a serious policy mistake. First of all, the research enterprise is becoming increasingly interdependent.
Medical breakthroughs depend on advances in the physical sciences and engineering.
Physics led to medical imaging technology such as MRI and CAT scans, computer science is reducing the time needed to develop life-saving drugs through sophisticated simulations, and nanotechnology could lead to much earlier detection of cancerous tumors. Second, federal support for research plays an important role in the development of new ideas and innovative technologies, the engine of our knowledge-based economy. Many of the technologies that are driving today's economy have their origins in federally-sponsored research. Although companies invest billions of dollars to develop and market new technologies, they find it very difficult to justify to their shareholders making investments in long-term, risky research that may or may not have any direct payoff for the company. The payoff to the our economy as a whole, however, is enormous, given the contribution that new technologies have made to increased productivity, faster economic growth, and the creation of high-wage jobs.