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tonyw · September 8th, 2004, 11:33

[ QUOTE ]
Which means that space "exploration" flunks the test for good investment of taxpayer dollars. Of course from my point of view almost everything the federal government does flunks that test.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's basic research, with no immediate opportunity for a return on investment. This is the kind of stuff that the government must fund, because the private sector isn't going to. Nor should they. It's not a good use of shareholder money to invest in research that has no real chance for a return on investment.

But without a solid basic research program, we won't come up with the new discoveries that end up driving a lot of innovation and applied research.

There's that "promote the general welfare" thing again. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

September 8th, 2004, 11:33	#21
tonyw Old Skool Join Date: May 2002 Location: Maryland Posts: 15,656	Re: Space Shuttle [ QUOTE ] Which means that space "exploration" flunks the test for good investment of taxpayer dollars. Of course from my point of view almost everything the federal government does flunks that test. [/ QUOTE ] It's basic research, with no immediate opportunity for a return on investment. This is the kind of stuff that the government must fund, because the private sector isn't going to. Nor should they. It's not a good use of shareholder money to invest in research that has no real chance for a return on investment. But without a solid basic research program, we won't come up with the new discoveries that end up driving a lot of innovation and applied research. There's that "promote the general welfare" thing again. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]