Letters: R&D no panacea
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.R&D no panacea
Sir: Roberta Nichols (letter, 30 June) asks why the fund managers who invest on our behalf - as pension fund members and savers - fail to see that more investment in research and development might mean a little less dividend now but ensure a better future for UK technology and industry.
For my part, I would not wish to see the managers who look after my investments encourage companies to spend more on R&D than their track record suggests that they can exploit. The worry is that, with notable exceptions, the evidence seems to be that British companies are less competent in this respect than are their foreign competitors and, even more worryingly, are significantly less active in the R&D-intensive sectors on which future prosperity depends than are those competitors.
The relative performance of British companies will not improve until general management standards are raised.
Dr D W BUDWORTH
London W4
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments