Analyst: This Is the Chart That Keeps Me Up at Night
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Reduced federal spending on research and development poses “the risk of a widening innovation deficit in America relative to the rest of the world,” according to Joseph Quinlan, chief market strategist at U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management.
As the attached chart illustrates, R&D outlays peaked in fiscal 2011 at $140.9 billion, according to data compiled by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This year’s projected spending of $131 billion represents 3.4 percent of the federal budget, which would be the fifth straight annual drop in percentage terms.