A lot of R&D is a sham tax writeoff. Accountants classify as many expenses as they can into the Research & Development category. But when government classifies its expenses, it has no such incentive, since it isn't taxed. So in comparison to government R&D, private sector R&D is overstated. http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/02/good-news-for-entrepreneurs-on-fiscal-cliff-rd-tax-credit-extended/
Not anecdotal evidence. This topic related to a thread about MacDonalds' pay scale. That thread in error, btw, as HuffPost ended up retracting the story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_University MacDonalds built its own university where they've trained 270,000+ people to advance within the corporation. The classes are even worth college credits.
Bullshit. They had to spend the money to claim the write off. Only a left leaning economist would waste the money instead of putting it to practical use. Those erectile drugs didn't invent themselves, you know.
Nope. If they didn't care about their employees, they wouldn't bother to help them improve. The managers could just as easily be the kids of the rich guys that own the place.
You don't understand that worthy expenses are not necessarily true R&D, but may be classified as such to get a tax credit?
It's an accidental by-product that training improves profits. The company trains for altruistic reasons.
Whereas you have no faith in the government and total faith in business and the wealthy, I have no faith in business, the wealthy and very limited faith (almost none) in the government. Denny, you and I completely and fundamentally disagree. Oh well, at least neither of us have a real say in this sham of a government, so in the end our views are simply musings of the blind.
You don't understand that R stands for research and D stands for Development? The grand total of R&D tax credits claimed for 2005 was ~$6B. Chump change. 1/3 of that by companies with less than $1M in assets and 1/2 by companies worth less than $5M. You're digging a hole. Need a bigger shovel? Maybe some govt. R&D program developed one for you.
The very wealthy have agreed to donate their vast fortunes to charity. These are sophisticated people. Best education money can buy. All the resources they can possibly use to better themselves and their communities. Yet... Not a single one of them wants to give .01 to the govt. to wisely spend. Oddly, the really rich ones that go into govt. end up in prison. No. I have little faith in govt. Iraq is the very best it can do.
As you see, I already spelled out what the acronym designates. As for it being proportionally immaterial, that doesn't change the fact that the private sector has a tax incentive to overstate the amount, and government does not.
The government overpays some employees. And almost all rich people are overpaid. That's why they're rich. I'd like to see everyone make less, to get governent out of debt, especially the rich.
Btw, I'd wager that that the bulk of govt. R&D spending is on weapons systems the military doesn't want, the militarization of space, and facilities larger than the Pentagon to house all the data the government is gathering by spying on us. The NIH budget is $29B. NASA is $18B. Defense R&D plus HHS account for 3/4 of govt. research spending.
I agree that little government R&D is in consumer applications. There might be some medical technology and technology to improve energy production, both conventional and alternative. But yes, most is military, inapplicable to average people. P.S. Hey NateBishop!! Are you enjoying my serious posts tonight, replete with big words?? They are just for you!! Now get off my back about it!!
We gentlemen always light up before discussing our little wagers. Pardon me. I seem to have misplaced my match.
The energy research money got funneled off into Democratic Party donors' offshore accounts before the companies folded. Solyndra ring a bell? Al Gore made a fortune off of hawking the global warming hoax then cashing in on carbon credit trading. Meanwhile his house uses more carbon based energy than a small town, and he consumes more fuel for one of his private jet trips than I use in a year. Yeah. Trust the government.
Well, that link is there to show that government can accomplish good things, specifically, the program you derided that included Solyndra. Some of those investments will produce and a few won't. When you become a rich investor, you'll learn that you can't win 'em all.
