Largest-ever US investment in science of $415.2 billion to be made by Obama

President Barack Obama during his speech on Monday to the US National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC stated that he was planning to devote more than 3 per cent of the US gross domestic product (GDP) to science research and development.

According to the latest figures that amount would make about $415.2bn. That amount is the largest-ever US investment in science research and innovation, as currently the amount that the US spends on research equals to about 2.6 per cent of GDP.

In particular, Obama stated he was planning to double the budgets of key science agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Standards and Technology. Moreover, the US government is launching a new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) aimed at carrying out "high risk, high reward" research on clean energy.

The President pointed out that it was essential to invest into this field, and said that the recent outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and the United States illustrates fact. It should be noted, that the US government declared a public health emergency because of the flu yesterday. However, said Obama, the outbreak is a "cause for concern," rather than a "cause for alarm," as there hasn't been a new site of infection found in the past 24 hours.