The line graph illustrates changes in U.S. government expenditure on research in five fields between 1980 and 2008, with figures given in billions of dollars.
Overall, spending increased in all five areas, although the figures fluctuated to varying degrees. Health research received by far the largest amount of government funding throughout the period, while expenditure on general science remained the lowest.
In 1980, spending on health research stood at approximately $8 billion. After falling to around $6 billion in 1984, the figure followed a strong upward trend, reaching a peak of roughly $22 billion in 2004 before declining slightly to $20 billion in 2008. Spending on space research also increased overall, rising from just under $6 billion to almost $9 billion. By contrast, expenditure on energy research fluctuated considerably. It climbed from about $4.5 billion to just over $8 billion in the late 1990s, fell sharply to $5 billion in 2000, and subsequently recovered to approximately $8 billion.
Government spending on other research varied between roughly $4.5 billion and $7.5 billion and finished at a level similar to its initial figure. Meanwhile, funding for general science rose gradually from under $2 billion in 1980 to just above $5 billion in 2008, despite remaining the smallest category throughout.