The economy.

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The economy.

Although the U.S. may now be the largest economy in the world, our budget and trade deficits and weak currency show that we no longer dominate the globe. Over the last two decades we have not sustained a healthy economy, and continuing efforts to reduce the budget deficit may depress growth. In addition two decades of decay in real wages have caused a diminution in the hopes and status of the middle class, making politicians nervous about the trend. This leads to politics focussed at least symbolically on the economics of the tax-paying middle class, while scientists often are perceived as an elite group supported by government institutions. (note: For a deeper discussion of the current U.S. political context see Brunner [1994].) The immediate relevance for science is that we cannot expect program increases funded out of new tax revenues generated by economic growth.