USA to Pass Science Crown to China Print
Contributed by editorone
Tuesday, 26 July 2005
source: http://www.dailybrowse.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=154&Itemid=1
http://www.nber.org/papers/W11457
According to a working paper of the National Bureau of Economic Research, rapid development of a science and technology base by populous Asian countries soon may threaten the economic position of the United States. Not only is the U.S. losing ground in high technology exports, but its very capacity to develop new technologies is declining rapidly with respect to the rest of the world. According to Richard Freeman, the paper's author, the sheer population of Asian countries may allow them to train more scientists and engineers than the U.S. while devoting a smaller share of their economy to science and technology.
Over a decade ago, Japan exceeded the United States in technology-based competitiveness. Since then, the two nations have run neck and neck while China surged upward. From 1993 to 2003, China more than doubled its competitiveness by measures of Georgia Tech’s Technology Policy and Assessment Center. Since 1999, China has particularly excelled in two input indicators to the measure - its production of scientists and engineers and its capacity to manufacture technology-based products.
The phenomenal growth of China's industrial base has been widely publicized, but Freeman focuses on what is perhaps the more important long-term indicator of a nation's prosperity - its re-investment in science and technology education.
In 1970, when over half of the world's science and engineering doctorates were minted in the U.S., China granted virtually none. The U.S. dominated both the high technology and general world economy in the following decades, but the two country's investments in their technological infrastructure took divergent courses. By 2000, only 17% of bachelor's degrees granted in the United States were in natural sciences and engineering versus the worldwide average of 27%. China was already issuing 52% percent of its bachelor's degrees in science and engineering. Today Asia grants more science and engineering doctorates than the United States. By 2010, Freeman estimates that China alone will grant more than the U.S.
These changes translate directly into an impact on the economy since technology products represent a larger share of our exports than imports. They also drive a feedback loop as more U.S. technology jobs are outsourced to Asian countries, discouraging U.S. students from pursuing science and engineering. Freeman concludes that research and techological activity and production are moving to China because China is graduating huge numbers of scientists and engineers.
Contributed by editorone
Tuesday, 26 July 2005
source: http://www.dailybrowse.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=154&Itemid=1
http://www.nber.org/papers/W11457
According to a working paper of the National Bureau of Economic Research, rapid development of a science and technology base by populous Asian countries soon may threaten the economic position of the United States. Not only is the U.S. losing ground in high technology exports, but its very capacity to develop new technologies is declining rapidly with respect to the rest of the world. According to Richard Freeman, the paper's author, the sheer population of Asian countries may allow them to train more scientists and engineers than the U.S. while devoting a smaller share of their economy to science and technology.
Over a decade ago, Japan exceeded the United States in technology-based competitiveness. Since then, the two nations have run neck and neck while China surged upward. From 1993 to 2003, China more than doubled its competitiveness by measures of Georgia Tech’s Technology Policy and Assessment Center. Since 1999, China has particularly excelled in two input indicators to the measure - its production of scientists and engineers and its capacity to manufacture technology-based products.
The phenomenal growth of China's industrial base has been widely publicized, but Freeman focuses on what is perhaps the more important long-term indicator of a nation's prosperity - its re-investment in science and technology education.
In 1970, when over half of the world's science and engineering doctorates were minted in the U.S., China granted virtually none. The U.S. dominated both the high technology and general world economy in the following decades, but the two country's investments in their technological infrastructure took divergent courses. By 2000, only 17% of bachelor's degrees granted in the United States were in natural sciences and engineering versus the worldwide average of 27%. China was already issuing 52% percent of its bachelor's degrees in science and engineering. Today Asia grants more science and engineering doctorates than the United States. By 2010, Freeman estimates that China alone will grant more than the U.S.
These changes translate directly into an impact on the economy since technology products represent a larger share of our exports than imports. They also drive a feedback loop as more U.S. technology jobs are outsourced to Asian countries, discouraging U.S. students from pursuing science and engineering. Freeman concludes that research and techological activity and production are moving to China because China is graduating huge numbers of scientists and engineers.