So only opportunities with a path to economic profitability should be researched?

That is a very narrow view of advancing society

Research anything and everything on your own dime. if it's taxpayer's money, then yes, it has to have at least a probability of profitability.

	▲	Esophagus4 an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		If it could be profitable, the private sector would fund it. Government funding can help with things that we decide are good for society, but not quite profitable financially. Examples: CDC lead exposure research, Earthquake Early Warning System… even the tech we use today came out of non-commercialized funding (NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography and ARPANET).
	▲	maerF0x0 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		And if there is a probability of profitability then there is a market to sell that opportunity for capital. But in a high interest rate environment some ideas just arent worth exploring.
	▲	techterrier 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		generating private profits are the best use of public money?
	▲	unbelievably 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
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