After adjusting for inflation, no growth is expected in federal obligations for basic research in the United States between FY 2004 and FY 2007, according to the latest survey by the National Science Foundation. This contrasts to FY 1998-2001 and 2001-04, when basic research obligations rose at average annual rates of 10.2 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. The survey report (NSF 08-303) by Melissa Pollak, says that data for FY 2007 (the most recent) show an estimated $116.4 billion in total obligations, almost the same level ($116.9 billion) reported for the previous year. However, when the data are adjusted for inflation, they reflect a nearly 3 percent decrease in R&D and R&D plant obligations, the first such decline since FY 2000. Basic research obligations account for 24.3 percent of total projected R&D and R&D plant in FY 2007, several percentage points higher than levels registered throughout the 1990s, but less than the 26.3 percent share recorded in FY 2002.
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