All else being equal, and left to its normal devices, US Government is as corrupt, bloated and inefficient as any government in the world. Often, its worse, because in Asia, they at least have shame culture, and moreover we have cultivated extreme entitlement and narcissism among our ruling elites.
Its NEVER been the case that government is responsible for the advances of this country, or its power and wealth. it has always been civil society and private enterprise.
If NASA was in charge of music we would still be using eight track tapes—and issuing press releases bragging about it.