[teraflop]

It's no more circular than spending money on education to get a high-paying job, or spending money on changing your A/C filters so that your air conditioner doesn't prematurely fail.

> but I'd think if it were economically productive it would be able to make a self-sustaining feedback loop.

A "self-sustaining" feedback loop still has humans in the loop, deciding to reinvest money in future improvements. If those humans decide to shut the loop down then obviously the benefits will stop being realized.

[zmibes]

why do we need the state in the loop?

[connor4312]

For the same reason government in general (e.g. the US military) isn't funded by one big GoFundMe. The marginal value any individual actor gains from their investment in public research or services is almost zero. It only works when it's prescriptive on a large scale. See: the tragedy of the commons.

[myrmidon]

Because collective well-being/improvements to the nation as a whole is literally its purpose.

Unlike companies, whose purpose is to earn profits for owners and shareholders.

[Joel_Mckay]

Some projects are too expensive, risky, and or potentially dangerous for a private firm to handle.

Higher education institutions in North America often already have close financial relationships with private sector firms.

Many startups were founded in a lab on some campus. =3