News & Updates

Source: Grant Witness A new analysis of National Science Foundation (NSF) grant awards and funding trends raises concerns about the future of the U.S. research enterprise. The data indicate the NSF is on pace for its lowest level of research grantmaking in more than 50 years, with both the number of awards and the total […]

During the Council's Summer 2026 Board, Executive Committee, and National Commission Meeting, Gallup Chairman and Council Executive Committee Member Jim Clifton opened the day with a challenge to the standard framing of U.S. economic health. The 4.3 percent official unemployment rate reported that morning, he argued, excludes a vast number of Americans who are, effectively, […]

Consider these two data sets side by side. The first, drawn from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data, shows China's R&D investment crossing above that of the United States as early as 2024 — several years before previous predictions, and the result of more than two decades of relentless acceleration. In 2000, China […]

As AI technology rapidly advances, the United States faces increasingly complex competitiveness challenges, as demonstrated by these graphs. The first picture is optimistic. Weekly U.S. business applications have surged to historic highs, approaching 130,000applications per week in early 2026, according to data compiled by Apollo Global Management. For context, that figure is nearly double the […]