Examine the paradox of record global R&D spending alongside declining productivity of scientific research, and assess the structural factors driving innovation inequality between nations.

Analysis of OECD MSTI database on R&D expenditure trends (2000–2024), Web of Science citation impact data, Nature Index tracking of high-quality research output by country, and cross-country patent data from WIPO. Supplemented by bibliometric analysis of replication crisis literature.

4 trillion in 2024 — a record high. Yet the productivity of that spending is declining: the number of researchers required to double computing performance (Moore's Law) has grown 18x since the 1970s, and similar trends are documented across agriculture, medicine, and materials science.

The top 10 countries account for 80% of high-impact research output; the bottom 100 countries combined produce less than 5%. The replication crisis affects 50–70% of findings in psychology and medicine. Meanwhile, 90% of the global disease burden affects diseases that receive less than 10% of research funding.