Federal money for basic tech research: Will the bucks actually flow

Will wonders never cease? Not only did President Bush declare an "addiction to oil" he also pledged big bucks for ... wait for it ... technology. Silicon Valley naturally is thrilled but its the fact the funding is for basic research that makes it so unusual.

While it's not unusual for presidents to pump specific technological research with obvious payback, the way Clinton did with biotech and the Internet, Bush has uttered scarcely a word about tech. Notes the San Francisco Chronicle:

Because basic scientific research has highly uncertain outcomes and no quick payoff, even though any benefits are widely circulated, companies have little incentive to finance it. "It's a classic market failure," said Robert Shapiro, an undersecretary of commerce for Clinton.

"The problem is politicians typically believe what they need to say is, 'We're going to support the development of this technology or that technology, because it's identifiable to the public,' " Shapiro said. "What you really want, and what has been really underfunded, is the most basic research, which are the things that eventually lead to nanotechnology and supercomputers."

But while America's innovation lines are heading down, China's and India's look like Google's stock numbers did until earlier this week. And it's bad enough that the administration is ready to take action.

["P]eople are realizing what is going on, particularly in China as well as India," said Al Teich, director of science policy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"The Chinese have come from nowhere and now have a significant share the world's research and development, and they keep increasing their spending. They have been producing an increasing number of scientists and engineers, and raising the quality of their domestic educational institutions, so the people they're turning out are getting better. You can't dismiss that anymore. That's gotten people's attention."

 Or has it? The Chronicle quotes several sources who seriously doubt the money will in fact show up.

"I would have proposed more innovative initiatives, but given our benchmark, which was zero, I think we've got to give him credit for raising the issue and putting some concrete proposals on the table," said Rob Atkinson, director of the New Economy Project at the centrist Democratic Progressive Policy Institute.