That's interesting, but I think a more basic motive is simply that we reached a limit to postwar growth in the early 70s, and this move was a way to keep up the metrics (embedded growth obligations), giving the appearance of growth, but actually taking it out of the wages of scientists and engineers. This is a terrible thing, because it's a particularly insidious form of eating your seed corn, in that you really don't see the full effects for decades. Think of all of the scientific advances we ought to see by now that aren't just your phone and laptop...