Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete Zicato
I have a suspicion that you'd even be incorrect to use "most".
The government has occasionally aided and abetted innovation. But that's because "A fool must now and then be right, by chance." (William Cowper)
All arguments of these sort are disagreements as to the role of government. Personally, I don't want to depend on government for innovation.
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I would disagree. The government role in R&D has been more than occasionally aiding and abetting.
As I noted earlier, it started with the law in the 1860s that established land grant colleges in every state to focus in part on promoting industrialization. It grew in the earlier 20th century with the establishment of the National Bureau of Standards and the National Research Council. And from post WW II through the peak of the space age (1970s), the government spent more on R&D than the private sector.
My position is that because we are now investing less than the governments of other industrialized countries we are falling behind and will be buying future technologies, from next generation car batteries to clean energy technologies, from foreign companies.
I also think the idea of depending on government for innovation misses the point. Government funds the foundation (where the cost outweighs any short term direct benefits) so that the private sector can build on that foundation and innovate.
Without the foundation, innovation will not occur as rapidly. And that is how we fall behind other industrialized countries in a global economy.