I interpreted that as meaning "don't forget private industry had an important role". This doesn't mean that the private sector could have done it alone (my inte

I interpreted that as meaning "don't forget private industry had an important role". This doesn't mean that the private sector could have done it alone (my interpretation of government investment being essential). But at that stage it's semantics really. Maybe we could ask the question: "would private industry have funded all the basic research to get to the same starting point?" I doubt it since it would not have been shown returns for many decades and had a high risk of showing no returns. But maybe they would have, who knows? A parallel question: "would private industry have developed semiconductor transistors without WW2 research into radar systems?