If someone could prove that bases on the moon were economically viable, private companies would be falling all over themselves to build them. The fact is that such projects are not viable, and probably never will be.
Far from being "a troll who has no sense of the future," I am concerned that we have in fact no future at all if we do not act sensibly and Constitutionally in the near future. Before you go bashing fellow FReepers as trolls, you should check their posting history. I checked yours, and believe it or not there is much that we agree on.
If you agree that spending $ for manned space exploration (which BTW is a military venture - see NASA Charter), then what are you upset about?
Economics have nothing to do with it - it is a matter of self defense. Any economic benefit can only be proved by going there - and that is just the side line. Think survival of the species.
Private companies are not falling over because the amount of money necessary is mostly beyond their means and certainly not justifiable to the shareholders.
The only reason companies are thinking LEO now is because NASA proved it could be done - something believed impossible when I was a kid.
Going to the New World was also believed not viable since one would fall off the edge of the Earth, but because the government of Spain was farsighted —— no one can say what until we as a country and a species get there.
But we do know the H3 is plentiful on the moon, that solar panels can be made cheaply and quickly on the moon, that there is water on both the moon and mars, that there is mineral wealth beyond imagining in the Asteroid Belt.
So there is money to be made - it is just the will to do so - no pain no gain. But right now nay sayers want to keep their collective heads in the sand and hope the Chinese and Russians are kind to them in the very near future. and keep their heads down so as to not see the 5 km rock coming toward them - curtsy of pissed off Chinese after the US defaults on their bonds.