World Science Week: Where are we in the world?

It’s World Science Week.  So, where are we in the science world?  One measure showing our commitment to science is our expenditure on R&D.  If we compare ourselves to the other OECD countries, we see that we are right at the bottom of the pile at 1.27% of GDP and have recently been overtaken by Hungary.

OECD countries Research and Development expenditure as a function of Gross Domestic Product

You can explore this graph for yourself by clicking the link here.

In four weeks we will vote for a new government.  I blogged a link to party policies about health research last week. Labour have just released their policy and National are yet to. In the meantime, the Green party says we need another $1bn invested in R& D, which would add about 0.5% (based on a ~$200bn GDP) and United Future and Labour wish us to have at least the OECD average which means another $2bn or so investment.  In the meantime, UF, Greens, and Labour all want to re-establish tax credits for R&D which is intended to stimulate private investment in R&D.  If anyone knows the answer, I’d be interested to hear how many of the other OECD countries have R&D tax credits and what difference that has made to investment in R&D.

Tagged: budget, Green Party, Labour Party, National Party, OECD, OECD countries Research and Development expenditure, Research and Development, United Future, World Science Week