Just because some (often already rich) people are capable to funnel some of the money out of governments, it doesn't mean that governments are supporting innovation.<p>This mechanisms just enable more government corruption and shady deals done by people who acquired power in the government.<p>I think VC and private investors are a much healthier mechanism than stealing money with taxes under the threat of violence (of which the government holds the legal monopoly) and then redistributing it to "random" people.<p>On building roads and infrastructure: are we sure that money was a good investment?<p>I would be curious to see a world in which railtracks and trains won over interstate motorways and trucks.<p>Maybe we would have already green electric trains instead of trucks burning oil and a population dependant on cars.<p>Maybe we would have smaller cities where people can just walk wherever they need to, most of the times.<p>Maybe we would be more dependant on local produce over stuff imported from far away.<p>We will never know.