What if I told you that in the last sixty years, the US government invented the modern world. It\u2019s not really a stretch to say. Federally-funded scientific research and development led directly to the Internet, fiber optics, superconducting materials, LED lights, water purification, wireless technologies, lasers, bioengineered medicines, solar power, MRIs, GPS, satellites, weather forecasting, and every health treatment based on our genes. And that\u2019s a short list. Economists say that half of our economic growth comes from these kinds of technological advances\u2026and those technological advances mostly have their roots in US government-backed science.<\/p>\n
But over time, our investment in federally funded scientific research and development has fallen by more than half.<\/p>\n
Ben Ritz is the Director of the Progressive Policy Institute\u2019s Center for Funding America\u2019s Future, which develops policy proposals to strengthen public investments in the foundation of our economy. \u00a0We talk about some of the amazing stories of how we ended up with the world around us through US government-funded science, and how we can reclaim our edge.<\/p>\n