A good investment is one that pays off well in the long run. NASA happens to be one investment the U.S. made that pays off rather nicely. For costing less than 1% of the Federal budget, NASA stimulates the economy and brings about technological progress. A Midwest Research Institute study found that for every dollar spent on research and development (R&D), around 7 dollars are returned over an 18 year period in Gross National Product (GNP). This means that the $25 billion NASA spent on R&D in 1958 returned over $181 billion in GNP by 1987. With the recent budget cuts, less money will be put into NASA, thus less return will occur over time. However, a balance will likely occur between the money saved by retiring the space shuttle and funding the private sector for commercial space travel.
Picture: http://elizardi.com/mia/?p=339
Source: Schnee, Jerome. "ECONOMICS." ER : Home. NASA. Web. 08 Dec. 2011. <http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/economics.html>.
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