Re:Sci/tech/math canNOT be our comparative advanta (Score 1)

It's less an economic law and more of a political economy theory. Scientific and technological advances are the chief mechanism of long-term economic growth improvement. These fields also tend exhibit large returns-to-scale and thus be dominated by a few large firms (e.g. operating systems, pharma) and are relatively high-risk and can be capital-intensive. Further, sci/tech advances have spillover effects that improve the productivity of other firms within the economy as well. Advances diffuses across national lines, but they tend to benefit the domestic economy most, making domestic firms more competitive worldwide. Sci/tech advances have a big impact on maintaining a strong, advanced military.

So, you could argue that is in a nation's political interest to promote a strong science and technology sector. Promotion could take the form of education incentives, direct subsidies, or other means, with varying degrees of efficacy.