Science Spending Doesn't Drive Economic Growth

Neal Lane, who was Bill Clinton's science adviser from 1998 to 2001 and head of the National Science Foundation from 1993 to 1998, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times yesterday arguing against Mitt Romney's budget plan, on the grounds that "Science Is the Key to Growth." Lane's argument runs roughly as follows: Bill Clinton "balanced the budget and achieved strong growth" because he invested in science. But this argument is full of holes. George W. Bush’s administration also invested in science—as Lane writes, Clinton’s doubling of the National Institutes of Health budget was completed under Bush—but the economy went into a tailspin during his administration. Even the most potentially lucrative discovery in "basic research" (which Lane highlights as being especially important) takes years to come to market from the initial research investment, so one administration's spending patterns won't be reflected in the economy until long after they've left office. Lane's attribution of Clinton's budget surpluses to the Human Genome Project is either disingenuous or silly or both. It is good that Clinton brought the budget to surplus, and good that he funded the Human Genome Project, but one had nothing to do with the other.

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