In The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs, Private Sector Myths, Mariana Mazzucato, professor of The Economics of Innovation at Sussex University, points out that capitalists are not the visionary risk-takers that free-market economists, the corporate media and politicians would have us believe. Their focus on maximizing profits actually makes capitalists risk-averse. Contrary to public opinion, neither Steve Jobs nor Apple had a critical role in the development of the Internet or iPhones. Hard disk drives were developed by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The Internet was constructed by U.S. federal agencies working with publicly funded universities. The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the World Wide Web were conceived by U.K. government-funded scientists. Touch screen technology was developed in government labs in the U.S. and U.K. GPS was developed by the U.S. military and continues to be funded by the U.S. Air Force. Lithium Ion batteries were developed by U.S. Department of Energy scientists. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Thin Film Transistors (TFT) were developed in government-funded labs. So were SIRI, an artificial intelligence program, and the critical Web Search algorithm. Steve Jobs and Apple can be credited with eye-catching designs and effective marketing which allowed their shareholders to make billions from the socialization of research and the privatization of profits.
Most research is funded by governments because they do not have to answer to shareholders. They can have broader goals. In the U.S., the federal government funds two-thirds of the country’s research and development: private business funds less than twenty percent. Capitalism has long depended on governments to fund research. In earlier times, governments funded research on canon fire and ocean shipping. They funded construction of railways, telegraph then telephone lines, and funded research on aerodynamics and jet engines. After government funding has made production profitable private business takes charge.
Most new drugs are developed in publicly funded labs. These are then modified slightly, patented and sold to government-funded health care systems at hundreds of times the production cost. Existing capital is locked into profits from fossil fuels; private capital cannot be expected to take the lead with widely coordinated action will be required to rapidly replace dependence on fossil fuels with solar, wind, tidal, wave, and geothermal power. Wider action is blocked by vested interest and lobbying as long as corporations and their shareholders can continue to make massive profits from fossil fuels.
Adapted from here
Most research is funded by governments because they do not have to answer to shareholders. They can have broader goals. In the U.S., the federal government funds two-thirds of the country’s research and development: private business funds less than twenty percent. Capitalism has long depended on governments to fund research. In earlier times, governments funded research on canon fire and ocean shipping. They funded construction of railways, telegraph then telephone lines, and funded research on aerodynamics and jet engines. After government funding has made production profitable private business takes charge.
Most new drugs are developed in publicly funded labs. These are then modified slightly, patented and sold to government-funded health care systems at hundreds of times the production cost. Existing capital is locked into profits from fossil fuels; private capital cannot be expected to take the lead with widely coordinated action will be required to rapidly replace dependence on fossil fuels with solar, wind, tidal, wave, and geothermal power. Wider action is blocked by vested interest and lobbying as long as corporations and their shareholders can continue to make massive profits from fossil fuels.
Adapted from here
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