On the Subject of Science, Mr. Obama Gets It

“We will not just meet, but we will exceed the level achieved at the height of the space race, through policies that invest in basic and applied research, create new incentives for private innovation, promote breakthroughs in energy and medicine, and improve education in math and science,” he said. “This represents the largest commitment to scientific research and innovation in American history.” These were the words of the President in a speech delivered at the National Academy of Sciences earlier this week. He went on to state that the US should increase both government and private investment in scientific research. I have discussed this administration’s committment to sciene and science education. I’d like to include a presentation, I made a few years ago on the crisis in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and the importance of a robust science sector to a strong economy.

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Economic Recovery, Science, and Earning a living

ARRA and You (Part II): Employment, Economic Recovery and the Research Sector. There are critics of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 who make light of the idea that one part of the American economy that the Act is stimulating is the science and research sector. Denying the significant contribution of this sector to the economy is simply a refusal to face facts. This is an observation also made in an previous post. There is serious labor economics at work here. The National Science Foundation’s biennial report Science and Engineering Indicators, 2006 (the most current available) concluded,

“Although workers with science and engineering skills still make up only a fraction of the total U.S. civilian labor force, their effect on society belies their numbers. These workers contribute enormously to technological innovation and economic growth, research, and increased knowledge. Workers with S&E skills include technicians and technologists, researchers, educators, and managers. In addition, many others with S&E training use their skills in a variety of nominally non-S&E occupations (such as writers, salesmen, financial managers, and legal consultants), and many niches in the labor market require them to interpret and use S&E knowledge.”

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Humpday Humor

Tell me me what you think. Was the previous administration antagonistic towards the science, research and development sectors of the American economy?

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