Does NASA have a high ROI? One of the oft-cited reasons for funding space exploration is the high return on investment, in terms of boosting the economy. For example > Studies estimate that for every $1 the U.S. government spends on NASA, the economy is boosted by $7-$14. That means that with NASA’s current budget of $17.6 billion, the U.S. economy will get an injection of anywhere from $123.2 billion to $246.4 billion. But on being challenged I've not found reliable sources that back up these claims. Is there a reliable source on this data? Is it misconstrued?

An econometric-based analysis of the ROI on NASA is presented here:

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The 14 dollar estimate is the cumulative effect on GNP as a result of increasing (and sustaining) the spending on NASA's R&D department, about a decade after the initial increase.

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Be aware that this is from several decades ago.

The source for the 7 dollar estimate seems to be Scott Hubbard, an ex-employee at NASA:

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