Inventing a technology and building a profitable business on top of it are very different things that require very different skill-sets. Besides, there is no evidence to suggest that private money cannot fund basic research of the type that the government does.
> there is no evidence to suggest that private money cannot fund basic research of the type that the government does.
The evidence is that it doesn't. Pharma companies rake in the money a ton but they're not the ones discovering new drugs, they're just the ones who ferry it to market.
