Relative investments

In a commentary in Science (1 Feb 2008), Adrian Cho wrote that the amount of money awarded in research grants increases much less than investment in construction and facilities operation - a graph neatly illustrates this.

A similar trend may be in operation in Spain - the Government reduced the budget for the Ministry of Science and Innovation, but increases spending in the "planE" - which mainly funds buildings, and lends more money to industry.

What about basic science (knowledge), being the new motor of the economy?