Here is a brief CRS report by John F. Sargent, Jr., released on 27 November 2018: Revisiting the Doubling Effort: Trends in Federal Funding for Basic Research in the Physical Sciences and Engineering.
Download CRS_Insight_Doubling_Effect.27Nov2018
Here are the first few paragraphs.
Introduction
The adequacy of federal investment in physical sciences and engineering (PS&E) basic research is a long-standing concern of many in industry and academia. This topic received much attention in the early 2000s due to perceived underinvestment in these disciplines. Many Members of Congress, industry leaders, and science and technology policy analysts asserted that the long-term competitive position and national security of the United States depended in large measure on the rapid increases in federal funding for PS&E. PS&E research provides the foundation for materials, products, and manufacturing technologies spanning a wide range of industries, including automotive, chemicals, semiconductors, electronics, telecommunications, aerospace, defense, and pharmaceuticals.
Stakeholder interest in increasing federal PSE funding was further fueled by the doubling of funding for life sciences research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from FY1998 to FY2003. Although the NIH doubling had broad support, some subsequently expressed concerns that it had created an imbalance in the federal research portfolio that undervalued PS&E research and might reduce the number of students choosing to pursue PS&E graduate degrees.
Momentum toward a doubling effort for PS&E research was catalyzed by a 2005 National Academies report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (RAGS). The report, requested by several Members of Congress, recommended doubling federal basic research funding over seven years, emphasizing fields such as the physical sciences and engineering.
In 2006, President George W. Bush launched the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), which sought to increase federal funding for PS&E research by doubling funding over 10 years for targeted accounts at the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), and Department of Commerce (DOC). The targeted accounts included all NSF accounts, the DOE Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Scientific and Technical Research and Services (STRS) and Construction of Research Facilities (CRF) accounts with DOC. Since Congress provides appropriations for agencies and programs, not for particular fields of science and engineering, these PS&E-focused accounts served as surrogates for the effort.
In 2007, Congress passed the America COMPETES Act (COMPETES 2007, P.L. 110-69), which authorized funding for the accounts identified in the ACI for FY2008-FY2010. In aggregate, the FY2010 authorized amounts represented a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3% over the FY2006 level (a growth rate that would result in doubling in seven years if this growth rate were sustained). Actual appropriations were lower than the authorized levels, with actual FY2010 appropriations corresponding to a 6.4% CAGR over FY2006 (a doubling pace of 11 years).
Concerns that gave rise to the America COMPETES Act had not subsided when the act's authorizations of appropriations expired. Congress sought to address these ongoing concerns with enactment of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (COMPETES 2010, P.L. 111-358). Congressional support for COMPETES 2010 lacked the wider bicameral consensus enjoyed by COMPETES 2007. While COMPETES 2010 passed the Senate by unanimous consent, the House vote on the final bill was 228-130, in large measure because of the bill's proposed increases in authorized spending for FY2010-FY2013. Like COMPETES 2007, a pillar of COMPETES 2010 was increased funding for the targeted accounts. Authorizations for FY2013 represented a 6.5% CAGR over FY2006, a doubling pace of approximately 11 years. Actual FY2013 appropriations, however, were lower than the authorized level and even below the FY2010 appropriations level. Actual FY2013 appropriations represented a 3.1% CAGR from FY2006, a doubling pace of 22 years—more than triple the length of time originally envisioned in COMPETES 2007 and twice as long as the COMPETES 2010 doubling pace.
Click here to read the entire document with figures and hot links.
Enjoy!
"Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works".- Unknown
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