> The free market hardly exists for primary research; never did. Primary research? Define please. Private philanthropists donate their money to universities for research all the time. They like having things named after them, such as the Smithsonian Institute and Carnegie-Mellon. There's also this little thing called the Gates Foundation. Howard Hughes Medical Institute parcels out several hundred million dollars in private money annually for medical research. Other examples:
-$500 million pledged for stem cell research: http://www.californiahealthline.org/Articles/2008/2/29/Private-Donations-for-Stem-Cell-Grants-Exceed-Expectations.aspx?topic=Stem%20Cell%20Research -$150 million for physics research: http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/News/In_The_Media/Mike_Lazaridis_Donates_Additional_$50_Million_to_Perimeter_Institute/ -£24 million for climate research: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/pressAndInformationOffice/newsAndEvents/archives/2008/Grantham.htm > You complain about > government "intervention" when many of your favorite products and services > are the result of government grants. One of the few private labs doing > primary research, Bell Labs [Alcatel-Lucent], ended all basic science > projects in 2008. No, only when people conflate market shortcomings with govt. meddling. I'll repeat what I've said before: I'd rather take my chances without guvmint-backed monopolies. For all we know, we'd have more and better favorite things (and sooner) with competition driving telecom research over the decades, instead of comfy monopoly status. > OK, let's end ALL corporate subsidies. Works for me. ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
