[PindaxDotCom]

Um, you can't even compete with Boeing this way.

When will other countries understand that: the best role of government is to ensure the rights of businesses and people. If you get that right, the rest will follow. They shouldn't be using tax dollars as venture seed money. They'd be better off refunding it to the taxpayers!

[Tichy]

100% agree - I never saw the rationale for the government making risky investments, just because purportedly nobody else does. Imagine your bank adviser telling you they are going to put your money into high risk investments because nobody else does. Yet if the government spends our money like that, few people seem to realize that it is basically the same thing happening.

[dpapathanasiou]

I never saw the rationale for the government making risky investments, just because purportedly because nobody else does.

Risk is important because it offers incentives to the marketplace, and prevents economic systems falling into stagnation (local optima), as Aaron Brown describes in this interview: http://marketplacemoney.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/05/...

But I agree with you that it is not the government which should be taking those risks, since (as others have pointed out in this thread), governments really don't know what they're doing in that regard.

[ivankirigin]

Boeing gets billions from the US Military.

[gibsonf1]

Ah yes, but that is to buy Military products which Boeing is very good at, not to finance a competitor to google.

[ivankirigin]

You're right, not to finance competitors. There are maybe 3 or 4 companies that matter in defense, each making many billions while others get an order of magnitude less. So, no...there is no funding competitors in defense. There isn't much competition to speak of.

But this is not to say the machines Boeing makes are not amazing.

My comments are from working on military contracts. They're enough to make a reasonable person run for the hills.

[gibsonf1]

Perhaps if the Military used my product, they would be less wasteful :)

[ivankirigin]

That is a billion dollar question: how do you get the military to buy my awesome product. The answer is usually absorb the culture and lower your productivity.

[gibsonf1]

So the usual answer won't work - but I'm not sure what will.

[pg]

They don't even need to ensure the rights of businesses. That's included in the rights of people (the shareholders).