[eganist]

I hate how shortsighted these comments tend to be, but I can understand them.

The money for projects like this, largely due to the sensitive nature of it all, still ends up staying local to the governments funding the projects, which means a significant minority of it still gets recouped in taxes two or three degrees down, and the balance that can't be recouped still ends up funding colossal technological advances, e.g advances in EM sensors, lensing, computing, electronic resiliency, power generation, the list goes on.

The reason governments spend on projects like this regardless of public opinion is because they're necessary to advance the state of science and engineeeing when investment returns are out of the question near-term.

Even defense spending operates this way, though the degree to which we pour good money after bad in defense is probably worth scrutiny. At least JWST will bring value, unlike the f35.

[justshowpost]

Well, all the tech advances brought by doing R&D of JWST happened already ~15 years ago and already are at the market. But its just the same thing as with R&D done for F-35. With notable exception F-35's R&D is still work in progress because of upgrades, while JWST will remain a piece of late 2000s tech to be taken out of the attic in early 2020.

[polytely]

Another important point to consider is that by having these big projects you maintain the ability to do them, capabilities need to be maintained by exercising them.