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A comment on The US Army spent millions developing giant, six-legged walking trucks in 1980s. Parent comment

Re:The US Army spent millions developing giant, six-legged w... by hencq on Monday September 07, 2020 @09:52PM (#24404548)
You might enjoy the book "The Entrepreneurial State" by Mariana Mazzucato makes a similar argument that a lot of innovation is actually driven by the state, because they can afford to invest a lot in research without an immediate payoff. The author mentions DARPA in particular as a great example of the US stimulating innovation that then later benefits companies. For example, while the iPhone is a great piece of innovation, it built on innovations made possible by state funded research.
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Re:The US Army spent millions developing giant, six-legged w... by Joe8Bit on Tuesday September 08, 2020 @04:33AM (#24406381)
There's also a very good book by Bill Janeway (of Wargburg Pincus notoriety) on the same subject called 'Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy: Reconfiguring the Three-Player Game between Markets, Speculators and the State'.

He argues the same point about the states roll in RnD (also explicitly calls out DARPA) and also their role in booms and busts.

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