Tuesday, September 30, 2008

U.S. Science Faces a Flat 2009

In a move that isn't a surprise to anyone, the US Congress authorized a continuing resolution of the US budget until at least March 2009. This means that science funding in the US will be saddled with the disastrous FY2008 budget.

With the US economy in a meltdown, the future doesn't look too rosy either. The next US President will have a huge constraint on any spending due to the proposed bail-out of the financial sector. McCain has already indicated that most domestic spending will be frozen if he were to become president.

In other words, science funding in the US will be facing some very tough times. Considering that science and technology, which is only 10% of the work force and yet is responsible for more than 50% of the US economy, is being almost neglected, this can easily be the turning point to the dominance of the US as an economic superpower. Maybe decades from now, historian will see that this is where a major civilization started its decline, just like other major civilizations of the world in history.

Too bad the people who were responsible for it will not be alive to see the consequences of their actions.

Zz.

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