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>Subsidize research... At some point (IMO already reached) this becomes just "Research". Properly directed R&D pays for itself many times over. >...into alter

• AnthonyMouse 13y ago
  > At some point (IMO already reached) this becomes just "Research". Properly directed R&D pays for itself many times over. The "problem" with research is that the costs are centralized while the benefits are diffuse. There is no way for a private entity to capture 100% of the social benefit of an invention, which means that solely private research will inherently be funded at a level below the optimal level for its social utility. There are also some things that are so expensive to research that private capital is not willing to take the risk that they don't pan out. Making hot fusion commercially viable for power generation is the holy grail of energy research, but you can't exactly do it in your garage.