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What are the benefits of "Public Goods"
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The Costs and Benefits of Funding Military Research and Development Policy
The central issues when evaluating the overall the United States research and development policy are the characteristics of a public good. A public good by definition is one that has a zero marginal cost of providing the good an additional person and from which individuals cannot be excluded. Research and development policy contributes to the level of knowledge and technology of the entire country. Knowledge, is in most cases, a public good under the aforementioned definition. Giving knowledge to an additional individual does not take away from the total amount of knowledge available, and exclusion from knowledge is often difficult to maintain.
A market failure is often associated with public goods, and knowledge is not an exception. Regarding knowledge, and specifically research and development, the market fails to provide this good at adequate levels. The government then steps in to attempt to correct this failure through its research and development funding policy. The following paper details the costs and benefits incurred through funding research and development specifically within the realm of national defense.
National defense is also a public good. The government provides national defense to correct the reality that if left uninfluenced, the market will not provide national defense at an adequate level. The U.S. government funds research and development in the area of defense at a much greater level than any other.
Background
Major policy initiatives were undertaken during the Reagan and Bush administrations in order to research and develop technologies that would aid in the Cold War. This was the era of Reagan’s arms stockpiling that pushed the defense budget to nearly three times the amount it is today, maxing out at just over $800 billion. (Stiglitz, 332) Policymakers were concerned with creating weapons and technology that were more sophisticated than those of the Soviet Union. Programs such as the semiconductor research consortium, SEMATECH, the Defense department’s Technology Reinvestment Program (TRP) and the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) grew out of these years all of which took advantage of defense funding to establish dual-use technologies, that is technologies with specific uses to both the civilian market and the military. In 1986, the Federal Technology Transfer Act was established to allow federal laboratories to conduct cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) with private firms. The Reagan and Bush era policies supported high technology research and development that related to both the civilian market and to the military.
With the launch of Sputnik in 1957 the U.S. became aware of the growing threat to National Security and Intelligence. In February 1958, by order of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA), a division of the Department of Defense (DoD) was established. Then on February 7, 1958 DoD Directive 5105.15 was signed (Darpa web site, 2014). Its primary purpose was to maintain U.S technological superiority over potential adversaries and to develop new technology for the United States military (Mallia, 2013). With ARPAs increased responsibilities and fast pace environment the agency need a better way to stay connected and share “packets” of information. The agency started to experiment with inter-office connections. In late 1969 those efforts paid off and the first “Advanced Research Projects ...
Manfred, T. (2013, September 5). Two Charts that show how Badly NFL Players Get Paid . Retrieved November 16, 2017, from businessinsider: http://www.businessinsider.com/charts-expose-how-badly-nfl-players-get-paid-2013-9
EFFECTS OF MEDICAL RESEARCH ON HEALTH CARE AND THE ECONOMY, By: Herbert Pardes, Kenneth G. Manton, Eric S. Lander, H. Dennis Tolley, Arthur D. Ullian, Hans Palmer, 01-01-99, Academic Search Premier
The role of the military was massive. Scientists were swayed towards the technology needs of the Cold War in the content and direction of most research in the Cold War era. Science was at an all time high during the Cold War. The Department of Defense had come to support education, especially physical science and engineering. This overall meant America was spending a lot of money. America was spending this money to develop new technology for what seemed to concern national security. After Sputnik, the expenses reached all time high in the 1960s at 5.5 billion a year, with the Department of Defense accounting for 80 percent of the budget. Of the R&D budget, the Department of Defense was spending about three-quarters of industrial money on electronics and aerospace technology. Military-driven technologies proved useful for post-Cold War times and later generations. These technologies include microwave electronics, radar systems, and X-ray tubes. All these technologies set a path for scientists and engineers, consuming what they designed and
Once coming up with a defense policy, it is important that we define the existing threats in the world so that we minimize the potential chances for failure. There are many threats in the international community that could make success of these policies very difficult. Such issues as the threat of nuclear war and the threat of shortages of natural resources could make implementation of these policies virtually impossible. Along with recognizing the threats to the Unites States from the international community, it is important that we not neglect the internal issues that could threaten the U.S. as a superpower. Recognizing this, it is important to makes sure that the United States maintains a strong economy.
Society seems to be divided between the idea if science is more harmful than helpful. We live in a world where humans depend on science and technology to improve important aspects of society, such as medical machinery, which supports the fact that science is more of a friend than a foe. Science is advancing every day. The United States has come a long way with its ongoing developments, giving individuals a chance to improve society as a whole. Not only does the United States benefit from such growth, but every modernized country does so as well. Through science and technology, individuals learn from past endeavors and apply it to present and future projects, paving the way for new discoveries and efficient enhancements
My project is on the effect of the Nuclear Arms Race on the US economy. In this paper, I will be discussing the arms race’s direct effects on the economy as well as the indirect effects from innovations that came about as a result of the increased military spending.
When the terrorist attacks occurred on 9/11 it did more than just affect the comfort level of American citizens. It had an all around impact on how this country will be run for years to come. The one economic impact that I will concentrate on is that the attacks, arguably, but directly effected the U.S. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and how the national budget will be handled from that day forward.
Military expenditures in the former Soviet Union were a great burden on the Soviet economy, draining resources that might otherwise have been available to improve the economic circumstances of the people. While Russia's centralized economy could provide the organization for an effective military establishment, it could not efficiently manage the complex distribution system of a consumer-based society. The Soviet Union was a great military power, but its people lived in disadvantaged circumstances throughout the Cold War.
Kugler, Richard L. 1995. “Defence Program Requirements”. In NATO Enlargement: Opinions and Options, Jeffrey Simon (Ed), Washington D.C. National Defence University Press, Fort McNair, 184-207.
In his speech of March 23, 1983, President Reagan presented his vision of a future where a Nation’s security did not rest upon the threat of nuclear retaliation, but on the ability to protect and defend against such attacks. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) research program was designed to tell whether, and how, advanced defense technologies could contribute to the feasibility of this vision.
Upon taking office in 1981, Ronald Reagan began to implement a simple strategy to win the war against the Soviets: he would outspend them in an arms race and force them to the negotiating table. Over the course of this erratic arms build-up the president spent a total of $2 trillion on the military alone. The most notorious of these programs was the Strategic Defense Initiative; also know as Star Wars, in which the president authorized billions to be spent to research a program that could defend America against a possible nuclear attack by blowing in an incoming nuke out of the sky. A vast majority of the scientific community thought such a program to be absurd and implausible, but Reagan pushed on. His belligerence in this arms race only provoked the Kremlin, and increased tensions. This massive military funding only led Russia to assume that the United States was planning to attack, and undercut efforts of peace. Also, in order to maintain such large military growth hundreds of ...
National defense being another example where the role of government is indispensable, because people do not pay for each unit the...
... review suggest that for developing countries need a strong effort to lift the quality and magnitude of R&D spending, as a way to increase economic growth, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The extraordinary growth in R&D performed by the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries in the last decade, may be justified by the fact of compromise between the government and all stakeholders that support R&D process in improving the quality of human capital, strengthening research institutions, implementing a national innovation system, and raising the sophistication of the private sector to compete globally. In perspective, R&D is recognized as an important driver of economic and social progress worldwide. It can be a powerful source to improve productivity, innovation, and competitiveness; to help to reduce poverty, and to stimulate long-term economic growth.
In modern society, governments in both developed and developing countries contribute financial resources to various forms of research and development (R&D). This type of investment assists society to function more effectively, because of inventions and innovations in many sectors, such as health, education, technology and science. In this way, social growth is encouraged at both a national and international level, which further supports improved business and commercial expansion. Based on this, it can be understood that government funding promotes scientific exploration of new ideas and processes that can advance the standard of living around the world. Therefore, it is argued that government funding for research benefits society. This will be examined with reference to the way government funding for medical research aids society, and scientific production on technology.