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This is just generally what happens when the government funds long term science experiments. My favorite example is the $1 Billion (inflation adjusted) MFTF-B fusion experiment at LLNL, which was completed the same day the gov't canceled the project: 2/21/1986. It was never turned on.

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Any good counter-examples of private enterprise funding long term science experiments?

D. E. Shaw made a ton of money on Wall Street and then started a private biochemistry research company that's done a bunch of basic scientific research (including supercomputing) with many publications (including top journals like Science).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._E._Shaw_Research

(I'm just mentioning this because it's interesting, not for any private-vs-government debating points.)

I do not mean to imply that pure capitalism is more efficient for scientific progress, just that massive waste is common when the government funds programs, and too often heart-wrenchingly so. Hopefully we can decrease it with better policy processes for medium to long term investments, and a more science literate population. In the meantime, there's a lot to learn from.

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