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Article: Ein Wissenschaftswunder? (research and development in West Germany) (Science and Technology)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- November 11, 1989
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Ein Wissenschaftswunder?
THE crude figures say yes. West Germany is Europehs biggest investor in R&D, by far. Industry, the federal government and the Lander (states) together stumped up some DM61.5 billion ($32.2 billion) for 1989. According to the Battelle Institute, West Germany and Japan will spend 2.9% of GNP on research and development in 1990, while in America the figure will be 2.5%. America has been sliding down this scale since 1985; Japan and West Germany continue to climb.
A popular fallacy has it that West Germany and Japan subsidise industrial R&D more than America does. Quite the opposite. In West Germany the public sector and ...