This is true for many other industries as well. The world's pharmaceutical industry has the vast majority of their R&D facilities located within the U.S.. Some of this is due to the tax issues but most of the reason is because this is the best place for R&D driven industries to locate. They partner with our university systems, which are still the best in the world, and test within our health-care system which is also the best in the world.
For countries like India and China to create the infrastructure necessary to support this type of R&D will require many, many years and a lot of luck. JMO, they will never develop the required infrastructure in Chemistry, Physics and instrument analysis to challenge our leadership.
Add our dominance in entrepreneurial ability to the equation and I think this article is much more alarmist than it needs to be.
But that same entrepreneurial skill is being stifled at every turn. How long can the US keep the "edge" when we can't even seem to have the political will to build a good 21st century power grid?
"For countries like India and China to create the infrastructure necessary to support this type of R&D will require many, many years and a lot of luck. "
I think you are underestimating the changes taking place in other parts of the world. While noone doubts the Leadership of the US right now in these industries.. the future will see far more competition than ever before. The fact that this report has been prepared by people who work in the real world means it needs to be taken seriously. This is not something written by a bunch of politicians.
And they have been doing it for many years already. And they appear to have luck too. Give them few more years and you will see.