It is also likely that the downwarddrift in the markets is having an impact, though some of the shift simply reflects a reversion back toward the historical averages registered by the survey.
It hopes to bring the inflation rate to 2% and put to an end to a downwarddrift in consumer prices that has persisted for 14 years, undermining business and consumer confidence in the world's third largest economy.
If the current pattern of cutting weapons and protecting people persists as defense budgets driftdownward, the United States will lose the technological edge it has long enjoyed in warfighting.