The government is very important in creating the environment for the future to be built. Safety, stability, intellectual/skill capital, laws & rewards that supp

The government is very important in creating the environment for the future to be built. Safety, stability, intellectual/skill capital, laws & rewards that support innovation (e.g. 'good' patents). The future must remember the great debt it owes to governments and their citizens, for it would not exist without them. Unfortunately the future tends to hide its money in offshore bank accounts. Government also has a greater role to play in extremely long-term initiatives that don't make sense in a shareholder funded vehicle. Much of our current society is founded on government funded R&D as Candu mentions.