You might find it interesting to know that in the mid 1800s, in the UK, during a 10-year period, private investment in railways totaled 40% of GDP- an average o

You might find it interesting to know that in the mid 1800s, in the UK, during a 10-year period, private investment in railways totaled 40% of GDP- an average of 4% per year. For comparison, the Apollo program was <0.5% of GDP. The list of enormously valuable privately developed technologies goes on and on- in fact, almost all technologies. Many of these developed in the 1800s and early 1900s when there was very little government spending on research/etc. For example, oil, railways, cars, etc. Even in cases where government research did help, often the practical realization takes a lot of money! P.S. Companies are not necessarily collectives. It depends on the ownership structure.