Weekend Quiz

Posted on March 2, 2008 by Nicholas Gruen
Posted in Economics and public policy

I am a state in the US.  A higher proportion of my economy is given over to research and development than any other comparable area.  I am unlikely to be where you'd think. Which state am I? And what proportion of gross state product is given over to research and development?

9 Comments

  1. Stephen Hill
    March 2, 2008

    I was going to have an educated guess and pick California, and then noticed that you mentioned "unlikely to be where youd think", I don't know whether to go for one of the military states like Virginia or maybe one of the industrial mid-west states that is using R&D to counter manufacturing decline associated with difficulties competing on price with a developing world - in a "flat world" to quote Thomas Friedman it would probably be wise to be investing in innovation in some of these states.

    As an educated guess I'll pick Virginia.

  2. Nicholas Gruen
    March 2, 2008

    Nup and Nup.

  3. Stephen Hill
    March 2, 2008

    The other home of military and international intelligence (CIA) - Maryland, which I think would be defined as a mid-east state, not a mid-west state.

  4. Amanda
    March 2, 2008

    Google provides. Covering up all those aliens doesn't come cheap, you know.

  5. Stephen Hill
    March 2, 2008

    Thanks Amanda, I just Googled which isn't quite as exciting as some naive form of inductive reasoning. Its New Mexico with around 9% of state domestic product based in R&D.

    http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/c8/c8.cfm?opt=4

  6. Nicholas Gruen
    March 2, 2008

    Amazing huh?

    I guess it must be defence.

  7. Nabakov
    March 2, 2008

    Georgia

  8. Nabakov
    March 2, 2008

    or Washington

  9. Jc
    March 2, 2008

    Its also the emphysema capital (state).. both NM and Arizona. You see lots of people carrying canned oxygen around.... seriously. Apparently the dry air helps.