Teknologisk udvikling var og er en af de væsentligste drivkræfter
i en kapitalistisk vækstøkonomi. Liberalisterne hævder som regel, at det er konkurrencen
på markederne som driver værket her. Der er selvfølgelig noget om det, når det
drejer sig om kontinuerlige små forbedringer eller udvikling af produkter, som
man anser for at have chancer som salgsvare.
Hvis det dog kommer til ægte kvantespring, hvor der skal
satses på lang sigt så kommer markedsøkonomien til kort:
Hvem ville hævde, at månelandingen ville have fundet sted i
1969[1]
– eller nogensinde - hvis den skulle
have vært iscenesat på markedsvilkår?
Våben- og rumkapløbet var en af de helt afgørende drivkræfter
i det 20. århundredes teknologiske landvindinger.
Kapløbet var et ideologisk strategisk kapløb – ikke et
markedsøkonomisk. Siden er den kolde krig afviklet (heldigvis!) – og udviklingen
er ved at gå i stå der – hvor markedet bestemmer alene.
National Science Board Report: US
Losing Research and Development Jobs to Asia
Sunday,
22 January 2012
By Dave
Johnson
Jobs
Lost
Product
Design and Development News: U.S.
High-tech Jobs Lost as Technological Lead Shrinks
The
United States lost 28 percent of its high-technology manufacturing jobs over
the last decade, as the nation’s rapidly shrinking lead in science and
technology in the global marketplace was accompanied by a toll on U.S.
high-tech jobs, according to a new study released today by the National Science
Board (NSB), the policy making body for the National Science Foundation.
One of
the most dramatic signs of this trend was the loss of 687,000 high-technology
manufacturing jobs since 2000. U.S. multinational corporations also created
research and development (R&D) jobs overseas at an unprecedented rate.
Meanwhile, China became the world leader in high-technology trade and, for the
first time, Asia matched the United States in R&D investments.
Companies
Moving R&D
WSJ: US
Loses Out as R&D Shifts to Asia,
The U.S.
is rapidly losing high-technology jobs as American companies expand their
research-and-development labs in China and elsewhere in Asia, the National
Science Board said Tuesday.
[. . .]
Since 2004, about 85% of the growth in R&D workers employed by U.S.-based
multinational companies has been abroad, according to the National Science
Board, a policy-making arm of the National Science Foundation, a U.S. agency.
U.S. companies generally aren't closing labs at home but rather focusing their
expansion abroad. The overseas portion of their R&D employment grew to
about 27% in 2009 from 16% in 2004, the report said.
Universities
Cutting Back, Too
At the
same time, budget cuts are forcing our Universities to cut back on R&D.
The
Chronicle of Higher Education: State
Budget Cuts for Research Universities Imperil Competitiveness, Report Says
States
have cut funds for public research universities by 20 percent in constant
dollars from 2002 to 2010, according to a report issued on Tuesday by the
National Science Foundation.
The
report, "Science and Engineering Indicators: 2012," is a compendium
almost 600 pages long of scientific trends in the United States and around the
world. The agency releases such data every two years.
The
findings in this year's report demonstrate a continuing trend in scientific
innovation. While countries like China and India have increased their spending
on technology and education, the United States has found itself hamstrung by a
weakened economy since 2008.
Other
Findings
Other
key findings in the report include:
Three
countries—the United States, China and Japan—were responsible for more than
half of the world’s $1.28 trillion in R&D spending in 2009. (China overtook
Japan during the last decade to become the second-largest R&D-performing
nation.)
Between
1999 and 2009, the United States’ share of R&D dropped from 38 percent to
31 percent; the EU’s share declined from 27 percent to 23 percent; and the
Asian region grew from 24 percent to 32 percent.
Many
Asian countries have increased their investment in R&D relative to their
GDP, with China almost tripling its R&D/GDP ratio since 1996. The United
States’ R&D/GDP ratio recently has edged upward, while that of the EU has
remained steady.
The
developed world’s lead in higher education has declined dramatically. In 2008,
only 4 percent of the world’s engineering degrees were earned in the United
States, while 56 percent were awarded in Asia, including one-third in China.
The
number of natural sciences and engineering doctorates awarded by Chinese
universities has more than tripled since 2000. At 26,000 awarded in 2008, the
number of these Chinese doctorates now exceeds the number earned in the United
States. And, unlike in China, a large share of these U.S. doctoral degrees are
awarded to foreign students. In 2009, 44 percent of the 24,700 U.S. natural
sciences and engineering doctorates were awarded to temporary visa holders.
Some 57 percent of engineering doctorates were awarded to foreign students.
American
industry, which historically has supported about 60 percent of U.S. R&D,
reduced R&D funding by nearly 4 percent in 2009. (A rise in U.S. government
R&D funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act partially
offset the private-sector reduction.)
Job
losses from the 2007–2009 recession were less severe for science and
engineering workers than for the U.S. workforce as a whole. In 2010, the median
income for workers in science and engineering jobs ($73,290) was more than
double the median income of all U.S. workers ($33,840).
Chinas offical site on the gouvernements economic policy:
http://www.china-economy-policy.com/#chapter2
Chinas offical site on the gouvernements economic policy:
http://www.china-economy-policy.com/#chapter2
[1] Månelandingen 20. juli 1969 kl. 21:17
dansk tid[1]
var en utrolig teknologisk bedrift, hvor man for første gang landsatte et
bemandet fartøj på Månen. Den 21. juli kl. 03:56 dansk tid (20. juli kl. 21:56 Houstontid) trådte det første
menneske sin fod på Månen.
