What's happening to the U.S. lead in technology?

Not many years ago it was generally felt in the United States that we had a comfortable lead over the rest of the world in basic research and technology. The resurgence of industry in Europe and Japan, the concentration of research and development in aerospace and defense, the loss of prestige of graduate scientific education, and other factors have turned euphoria into gloom over the U.S. competitive position. According to the author of this article, things were not as good as they seemed before and things are not as bad as they seem now. He analyzes the contrasting points of view. While agreeing that technological advancement has slowed in the United States, he concludes that this only presages a similar experience in the rest of the developed world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]