ITIF-减少联邦研发如何降低GDP增长（英）-2025.9-15页.pdf

HowReducingFederalRDReduces

GDPGrowth

MEGHANOSTERTAG|SEPTEMBER2025

CuttingfederalinvestmentsinRDmayappeartosavebillionsinthebudget,butitcouldcost

theeconomytrillions.Infact,ITIFestimatesthatcuttingfederalRDby20percentwouldcost

theU.S.economyuptoalmost$1.5trillioncomparedwithChina’sgrowthpace.

KEYTAKEAWAYS

FederalinvestmentsinRDdriveU.S.innovation,productivity,andeconomicgrowth.

Whilecuttingresearchfundingmaysavetaxpayers’moneyintheshortterm,itincurs

greatercostsinthelongterm.

CuttingfederalRDby20percentinsteadofkeepinginvestmentsconstantasashareof

GDPwouldreducespendingby$620billionover10years—butitwouldshrinkthe

economybynearly$1trillionandreducetaxrevenuesbycloseto$250billion.

ChinaisrapidlyexpandingitsinvestmentsinRDandmayhavealreadysurpassedthe

UnitedStatesintotalresearchinvestment.CuttingAmerica’spublicinvestmentsin

researchwouldamplifyChinesecompetitivenessinadvancedtechnologies.

RDinvestmentincreasesthenumberofpatentsfiled,start-upslaunched,andfirmsthat

entertheexportmarket,allofwhichareessentialforAmericancompetitiveness.

FederalinvestmentinRDisoftenusedforresearchviewedastooriskyforprivatefirms,

suchasbasicresearch,and“crowds-in”privatesectorinvestmentinresearch.

SeventypercentoffederalRDdollarsflowtouniversitiesandlabs,trainingPh.D.

candidates,andattractingtoptalent.CuttingRDfundingwouldweakentheresearch

workforceoftheUnitedStates.

CONTENTS

KeyTakeaways1

Introduction2

ImportanceofRD4

CutstoFederallyFundedResearch6

RDExpenditureShortfall7

HowFederalRDGrowstheEconomy9

EffectsonGDPandTaxRevenue9

ImplicationsonU.S.Competitiveness11

Conc