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Executive Summary
Pages 1-15

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From page 1...
... The Academies' review culminated in four overarching recommendations, underpinned by twenty specific implementing actions. Generally strong bipartisan support was granted these findings on Capitol Hill and in the White House and a number of the recommendations were eventually implemented.
From page 2...
... Robert Solow received a Nobel Prize in economics in part for his work that indicated that well over half of the growth in United States output per hour dur ing the first half of the twentieth century could be attributed to advancements in knowledge, particularly technology.1 This period was, of course, before the technol ogy explosion that has been witnessed in recent decades. The National Academies Gathering Storm committee concluded that a primary driver of the future economy and concomitant creation of jobs will be innovation, largely derived from advances in science and engineering.
From page 3...
... It is not simply the scientist, engineer and entrepreneur who benefit from progress in the laboratory or design center; it is also the factory worker who builds items such as those cited above, the advertiser who promotes them, the truck driver who delivers them, the salesperson who sells them, and the maintenance person who repairs them -- not to mention the benefits realized by the user. Further, each job directly created in the chain of manufacturing activity generates, on average, another 2.5 jobs in such unrelated endeavors as operating restaurants, grocery stores, barber shops, filling stations and banks.5 Progress enabling products such as those mentioned above in the information fields is built upon the work of a few individuals who decades ago were investigating something called solid state physics -- none of whom probably ever thought about CT scans, GPS or iPods -- the latter of which can enable one to hold 160,000 books in one's pocket -- any more than one today can predict the breakthroughs a half century hence.6 2 National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 200.
From page 4...
... While progress has been made in certain areas -- for example, launching the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy -- the latitude to fix the problems being confronted has been severely diminished by the growth of the national debt over this period from $8 trillion to $13 trillion.11 Further, in spite of sometimes heroic efforts and occasional very bright spots, our overall public school system -- or more accurately 14,000 systems -- has shown little sign of improvement, particularly in mathematics and science.12 Finally, many other nations have been markedly progressing, thereby affecting America's relative ability to compete effectively for new factories, research laboratories, administrative 7 Federal R&D was 1.92 percent of GDP in 1964 and 0.76 percent of GDP in 2004. See: http://www.
From page 5...
... Unfortunately, it has increasingly placed shackles on that prowess such that, if not relieved, the nation's ability to provide financially and personally rewarding jobs for its own citizens can be expected to decline at an accelerating pace. The recommendations made five years ago, the highest priority of which was strengthening the public school system and investing in basic scientific research, appears to be as appropriate today as then.
From page 6...
... (computer manufacturing) employs more people than the worldwide employment of Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Intel and Sony combined.10 No new nuclear plants and no new petroleum refineries have been built in the United States in a third of a century, a period characterized by intermittent energy-related crises.11 Only four of the top ten companies receiving United States patents last year were United States companies.12 United States consumers spend significantly more on potato chips than the government devotes to energy R&D.13 
From page 7...
... computer industry is now lower than when the first personal computer was built in 1975.18 In the 2009 rankings of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation the U.S. was in sixth place in global innovation-based competitiveness, but ranked 40th in the rate of change over the past decade.19 China has now replaced the United States as the world's number one high-technology exporter.20 In 1998 China produced about 20,000 research articles, but by 2006 the output had reached 83,000 .
From page 8...
... .35 China's real annual GDP growth over the past thirty years has been 10 percent.36 According to OECD data the United States ranks 24th among thirty wealthy countries in life expectancy at birth.37 For the next 5-7 years the United States, due to budget limitations, will only be able to send astronauts to the Space Station by purchasing rides on Russian rockets.38 The average American K-12 student spends four hours a day in front of a TV.39 
From page 9...
... The older portion of the U.S. workforce ranks first among OECD populations of the same age.42 When MIT put its course materials on the worldwide web, over half of the users were outside the United States.43 Six of the ten best-selling vehicles in the United States are now foreign models.44 Since 1995 the United States share of world shipments of photovoltaics has fallen from over 40 percent to well under 10 percent -- while the overall market has grown by nearly a factor of one hundred.45 Among manufacturers of photovoltaics, wind turbines and advanced batteries, the top ten global firms by market capitalization include two, one and one United States firms, respectively.
From page 10...
... During the same year there were 880,000 workers in the entire United States automobile manufacturing sector.56 Between 1996 and 1999, 157 new drugs were approved in the United States. In a corresponding period ten years later the number dropped to 74.57 All the National Academies Gathering Storm committee's recommenda tions could have been fully implemented with the sum America spends on cigarettes each year -- with $60 billion left over.58 Youths between the ages of 8 and 18 average seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of video games, television and computers -- often multi-tasking.59 In 2007 China became second only to the United States in the estimated number of people engaged in scientific and engineering research and development.60 In January 2010, China's BGI made the biggest purchase of genome sequencing equipment ever.61 10
From page 11...
...   2  J. Karlberg. Biomedical Publication Trends by Geographic Area.  Clinical Trial Magnifier. 2 (12) , December, 2009.    3  S. Dutta and I. Mia, Global Information Technology Report 2009–2010: ICT for Sustainability, World Economic Forum, 2010.    4  T. Donohue, Testimony to the House Committee on Science and Technology  on The Reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act, January 20, 2010. Available  at: https://www.uschamber.com/issues/testimony/2010/100119_americacompetes.htm.  See also: http://www.ificlaims.com/IFI%202009%20patents%20011210%20final.htm.
From page 12...
... 29  Organization  for  Economic  Cooperation  and  Development,  Education at a Glance 2009: OECD Indicators; Table A-3.5. 30  National Science Board,  Science and Engineering Indicators: 2010, Arlington,  VA, Appendix Table 7-9.
From page 13...
... 40  J.  Mervis,  Top  Ph.D.  Feeder  Schools  Are  Now  Chinese,  Science,  July  11,  2008. 41  C.  Harlow,  Educational  and  Correctional  Populations,  Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report,  January  2003.  Available  at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/ pub/pdf/ecp.pdf.
From page 14...
...   are  counted.  See  J.  Owens,  2006  Drug  Approvals:  Finding  the  Niche, Nature  Reviews  Drug  Discovery,  February  2007.  Available  at:  http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v6/n2/fig_tab/ nrd2247_F1.html;  M.  Martino,  2007  FDA  Approvals,  Fierce Biotech,  January  14,  2008.  Available  at:  http://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/2007-fda-approvals;  and  M.  Arnold,  FDA  BLA  approvals  rose  in  2009  while  NMEs  stumbled,  Medical Marketing and Media,  December  31,  2009.  Available  at:  http://www.mmm-online. com/fda-bla-approvals-rose-in-2009-while-nmes-stumbled/article/160496/.  58  For spending on cigarettes, see:  http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/ fact_sheets/economics/econ_facts/.  For  cost  estimates  of  the  Gathering Storm  com mittee's recommendations, see National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of  Engineering, and Institute of Medicine,  Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future,  Washington,  DC,  2007,  Appendix E.
From page 15...
... execuTIVe SuMMary 64  Note that the ACT estimates that students meeting the readiness standard  in a given subject have a 75 percent chance of getting a C and a 50 percent chance  of  getting  a  B  in  an  entry  level  course.  Information  available  at  the  ACT  website: http://www.act.org/news/releases/2008/crr.html.  15


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