In the U.S., which spends about six times as much on supercomputers as China, the software budget equals about 30% of hardware spending, and computer specialists say even that level isn't sufficient.

WSJ: China's Not-So-Super Computer Program

Second, tax specialists complain that Mr Osborne is not being bold enough: they say, for example, that the so-called "patent box", the device for lowering the tax on profits earned from UK intellectual property, will benefit only a limited number of firms.

BBC: What's a fair contribution from multinationals?