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Categories: Economics, policy, technology

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Policy Division

Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy

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Congressional Briefing

Tuesday, July 20, 1999 -- 11:30 a.m.

2318 Rayburn House Office Building

on

SECURING AMERICA'S INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH

and

U.S. INDUSTRY IN 2000: STUDIES IN COMPETITIVE PERFORMANCE

by

DALE W. JORGENSON, Frederic Eaton Abbe Professor of Economics and Director, Program on Technology and Economic Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and Chairman, Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, Policy Division, National Research Council

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The performance of a wide spectrum of U.S. industries continues to surge while many foreign competitors and their economies lag -- a marked contrast to the gloomy diagnosis of the late 1980s. Were U.S. industries and firms really doing so poorly and foreign competitors performing so well? What can be learned from this apparent reversal to help sustain the nation's growth?

Two new reports from the National Academies' Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) examine private-sector strategies, information technology applications, and public policy influences in 11 manufacturing and service industries ranging from computing to trucking and steel to banking.

While documenting improvements the reports conclude there is as much risk of misreading cyclical conditions for long-term trends when the overall economic picture is positive as when it is negative. Among other concerns, the Board documents a downward trend in long-term research investment in certain industries and research fields. For example, federal research funding in four fields -- electrical and mechanical engineering, physics, and geology -- dropped more than 20 percent between 1993, when research funding peaked, and 1997, the last year for which data are available. The STEP analysis shows the extent to which 26 science and engineering fields have suffered or prospered in the budget climate of the nineties.

This briefing was for Members and Congressional Staff only.