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Originally Posted by Pete Zicato
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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Pete, it isn't a public versus private sector competition when it comes to innovation. You cannot just generalized "alternative energy should be produced from the private (or public) sector due to (insert argument that backs up your claim)." That isn't how it works. Most of the large issues that science faces today are so complex and research is so expensive that the public and private sector must work together in order to solve them. Here is a simplified example of how innovation works nowadays:
Professor 1 gets government funding and comes up with some device that successfully manipulates flowing water into energy. This device is extremely expensive and would be extremely difficult to scale to size needed to actually power a grid. This device currently will not make money so the private companies stay away from it. Professor 2 gets more government funding and comes up with a way to scale the device into the size that can be used to power a grid. Company 1, who has been following the progress of the device all along, now begins to research a way to make the device cheaper and more efficient, with the help of professor 1 and 2. Now that this device is an economically viable option, it gets built and further research is done in both the public and private sectors to make the device even better.
Was this innovation a result of the public or private sector? The answer is neither. If it was solely up to the public or private sector this device would never be made (in a way that could be used). It was the combination of the two that allowed it to be successful.
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Originally Posted by Fair&Balanced
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.
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Yup. Government funding gives institutions the chance to develop all sorts of different theories and technologies that companies sort through to find something that they can use.