In the United States, total R&D spending (both public and private) has been relatively stable over the past three decades, at roughly 2–1/2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).6 However, this apparent stability masks some important underlying trends.
First, since the 1970s, R&D spending by the federal government has trended down as a share of GDP, while the share of R&D done by the private sector has correspondingly increased.7 Second, the share of R&D spending targeted to basic research, as opposed to more applied R&D activities, has also been declining.8 These two trends – the declines in the share of basic research and in the federal share of R&D spending – are related, as government R&D spending tends to be more heavily weighted toward basic research and science.