"A good deal? The vast majority more like." That just isn't true. The federal government funds no where near the majority of r&d, not even the majority of basi

"A good deal? The vast majority more like." That just isn't true. The federal government funds no where near the majority of r&d, not even the majority of basic research. Data from ongoing surveys by the National Science Foundation (NSF) show that federal agencies provided only 44% of the $86 billion spent on basic research in 2015. ... Basic research comprises only about one-sixth of the country’s spending on all types of R&D, which totaled $499 billion in 2015. Applied makes up another one-sixth, whereas the majority, some $316 billion, is development. Almost all of that is funded by industry and done inhouse, as companies try to convert basic research into new drugs, products, and technologies that they hope will generate profits. Those private sector efforts are now the dominant form of research activity in the United States, with business spending $3 on research for every $1 invested by the U.S. government. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-government-share-basic-research-funding-falls-below-50 http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-governm...