Anyone following the year-to-year development of US science and technology (S&T) policy would have to conclude that the process is chaotic, ad hoc, and pays little heed to long-term planning. One need only look at the National Institutes of Health, whose budget, after a five-year doubling that ended in 2003, steadily declined in inflation-adjusted terms for the next five years. Now, mainly as a result of funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), NIH is getting a windfall of $10 billion—a 38% increase over 2008.
A second disconnect between science policy and its implementation occurred with the passage of the America COMPETES Act in 2007. In response to expert advice that the US lead was slipping fast in a variety of measures of science and innovation, the law authorized a 10-year doubling of federal R&D programs covering basic research in physical sciences. But lawmakers failed for two...
