[pbhjpbhj]

Isn't the 'problem' (for the wider population) that physicists are motivated towards answering the big questions (that's a valid outlay for $billions IMO, just like, say how we spend billions on football/soccer). So effectively what we're doing is allowing that because we know there are positive repercussions that come along with such exploration.

(Also a BSc in TPhys (& maths), fwiw.)