How stable are the Clinical Research Associate jobs?

Why does the United States encourage people to study science when jobs for research scientists (and funding for scientific research) are so limited?

• Politicians and public figures are always telling the public that we should encourage kids to study math and science. But when it comes to funding scientific research, you never hear a peep? One study (of many) showing the relatively stable and limited state of funding by the government for scientific research: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi/10.1371/journal.pone.0012203

• Answer:

  Not everybody who studies science ends up with a research degree. Also, having a research degree does not categorically disqualify you from jobs that don't require research. You can very likely 'downgrade' to a technical but non-research job. You can't do the reverse, though. The governments wants more STEM graduates because Technology is where US has had the upper hand and wants to continue doing so. Everything that can be commoditized (e.g., manufacturing, office jobs) can and will migrate to China or India. While there may be assurances that the offshoring will be stopped, they seem little more than assurances in the long run. Other countries have done this before. An "engineering culture" at the cost of other disciplines has largely contributed to the availability of skilled labor in China and India. The US wants to gear the future generations to stay one step ahead of the rest of the world in technology. Additionally, flourishing liberal arts and non-vocational disciplines are higher-order privileges characteristic of monetary surpluses and/or assured and sustainable growth. Currently, the US has neither, and switching the initiative to science is natural.