評論
打印
Science and technology
科學技術
R D in America
美國研發戰略
Bad medicine
醫學受阻
Cutting American health research will harm the world
美國削減醫藥研究經費，影響波及整個地球
BARACK OBAMA, in his state-of-the-union speech on February 12th, called for a new era of scientific discovery.
2月12日，巴拉克·奧巴馬在國情咨文演講中號召人民開啟科研成果新紀元。
Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the space race, he declared.
他宣布:自太空競賽取勝以來，我們始終未能將科技研發推向一個新高度，現在是時候了。
He praised projects to map the human brain and accelerate regenerative medicine.
他還表揚了大腦活動圖譜繪制工程和再生醫學提速項目。
This would mean spending more on research.
這意味著他打算在科研上投入更多的經費。
As The Economist went to press, America's government was about to do the opposite.
本期《經濟學人》付印時，美國政府正欲背道而馳。
Federal spending is due to be cut on March 1st, the result of a long brawl over the deficit.
赤字當前，各政客長期意見不合，導致聯邦自動減支于3月1日強制啟動。
Complex politics triggered this sequester but the sequester itself is brutally simple.
政局復雜導致了財政封存，但是財政封存卻簡單得要命。
America will cut 85 billion from this year's budget, split between military and non-military programmes.
美國將在本年度預算中削減850億美元，由軍事開支和非軍事開支共同分擔。
Among the areas to be squeezed is R&D, and medical research in particular.
研發項目開支也將被削減，而醫學研究首當其沖。
For years America has enjoyed pre-eminence in research, but this is fading.
美國歷年都在科研方面獨占鰲頭，但現在她龍頭的光環越來越小。
Chinese investment more than quintupled from 2000 to 2010, to 160 billion, in 2005 prices.
以2005年價格核算，2010年中國的研發投資是2000年的5倍多，達1600億美元；
America's RD spending rose by just 22% over that period, according to the OECD.
而據經濟合作與發展組織稱，同期美國只增加了22%。
Research also makes up a smaller portion of America's economy than some other countries'.
同時，研究經費在美國經濟中所占的比例比其他一些國家都要小。
In a ranking of RD spending as a share of GDP, America came tenth in 2011.A decade earlier it was sixth.
在2011年研發開支占GDP比例上，美國排名第十，而十年前，美國位居第六。
Nevertheless, America remains the world's biggest engine for innovation.
然而，美國仍然是全球最大的創新引擎。
It spent 366 billion on research in 2011, compared with 275 billion by all 27 countries of the European Union.
2011年，美國在科研上投入了3660億美元，而27個歐盟國家的總投入僅有2750億美元。
Despite China's rapid ascent, America still spends more than twice as much on R&D. Subsidies help.
雖然中國漲勢迅猛，美國在研發上的開支仍比中國高出1倍以上。
America's government pays for about one-third of all domestic research and for most basic science.
這少不了補貼的功勞。美國政府承擔國內三分之一左右的研究經費及多數基礎科學費用。
Medicine is one of the main beneficiaries.
醫學研究成了補貼的主要受益對象。
America's National Institutes of Health is the world's biggest funder of biomedical research.
美國國家衛生研究所是世界最大的生物醫學研究投資方。
It pays for risky basic science; companies pay for later stages of development.
對于成功率較低的基礎科學，開始階段的研究由研究會買單，而后階段的開發則由各大公司支付。
For example, the NIH supported early research into monoclonal antibodies.
比如，NIH支付了單克隆抗體早期的研發費用。
By 2010 such research underpinned five of America's 20 bestselling drugs.
截至2010年，美國最暢銷的20種藥物中，有5種來自于這種方式。
As drug firms trim their budgets, the NIH's work is becoming even more vital.
藥物公司的預算減少，NIH的作用就更加重要了。
But since 2003, inflation-adjusted spending on medical research has declined.
然而，由于通脹所迫，醫學研究經費自2003年起也有所下降。
With the sequester public investment will shrink further.
由于財政封存，國家投資將進一步減少。
America's total outlay on RD will drop by 8.7 billion this year, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
據美國科學發展協會稱，今年美國在研發上的總支出會減少87億美元。
Francis Collins, the NIH's director, says that his organisation will spend 1.6 billion less in 2013—a cut of 5.1%—and 16 billion less over the next decade.
NIH所長弗朗西斯?柯林斯說，今年，NIH的開支也會縮減16億美元，減少約5.1%。在未來十年內，將減少160億美元；
Hundreds of grants will not be awarded.
數百項項目經費也將取消。
Existing grantees will receive only 90% of the cash promised to them.
已申請成功的人士也只能拿到約定經費總額的九成。
These cuts will speed the erosion of American supremacy in research.
美國在研究領域的龍頭地位已經不保，以上各項開支削減進一步加快了其下滑速度。
In December Battelle, a research group, predicted that China would surpass America's spending by 2023.
去年12月，巴特爾研究中心預測，中國的科研經費將在2023年趕超美國。
Thanks to the sequester, that date may come earlier.
拜財政封存所賜，這天將來得更早了。
But the real problem is absolute, not relative, and affects the whole world, not just America.
然而，真正的問題在于，美國不僅會在研發開支排名上下滑，也無疑將在研發進展上落后。這不僅會減緩美國發展，且影響會波及全世界。
RD is a rare type of public spending that stimulates growth.
能刺激經濟增長的國家投資不多，研發就是其中之一。
Knowledge is cumulative, easy to share and generates benefits that spill rapidly across borders.
知識是可積累的，便于分享，而且還可以帶來效益、造福各界。
Dr Collins says that cuts to the NIH will slow work on Alzheimer's disease, a universal flu vaccine and cancer therapies, to name just a few.
柯林斯博士說，削減NIH支出，會減緩多種研究的進程，比如老年癡呆癥、通用流感疫苗和抗癌療法。
