US chemistry in question

In April, the US National Research Council (NRC) published a report, The future of US chemistry research: benchmarks and challenges. The report details the findings of a committee, chaired by Charles Casey, University of Wisconsin, that sought answers to three questions: 

• what is the current position of US chemical research relative to that in other countries?
• what key factors influence US performance in chemistry?
• what will be the relative US position in the near and longer terms?

Speaking at the American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in Chicago, in March, Casey explained that the report comes on the heels of a report published by the National Academy of Sciences in 2005, Rising above a gathering storm, which warned that US pre-eminence in science and technology had begun to erode.