Optimal relative to what? And more seriously, name any large program, government or corporate, that is "optimal".

Google, Duolingo, and DataBricks are three multibillion dollar tech companies based in part on NSF research. The return on investment from NSF-funded research spinning out into companies is enormous.

While the system could use some tuning, it also works pretty well as is. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.