[RightWingAtheist]

Thanks, and for what it's worth, I am on your side in this thread's main argument :).

I'm surprised no one has yet noted one of the big reasons for the Indian sci-tech boom: a move away from the command economy and a bigger emphasis on free-market policies over the past twenty years. This was also the main reason that Ireland became the "Celtic Tiger" of European R & D.

[risk]

With big-ticket items like defense research, space exploration, particle accelerators and atomic physics, oceanic exploration/development, and so forth, I think there is a legitimate role for "big" government to play. It can leverage the nation's need for strategic progress on a large scale with funding and focus. The spinoffs should be encouraged to flourish however. Business can thrive on top of "big" (little 'b') government.