Bob Herbert of the NYT has an excellent post called "An Uneasy Feeling" in which he talks about a lack of direction for the country. While many praise capitalism for the great success of the U.S. and want the government out of the way, not many recognize that it is the public (government) investments that have paved the way for this success- capitalism is just a beneficiary. The rail networks and the highways brought forth a new era in commerce. While the past two decades have belonged to the Internet, it should be remembered that the government's DoD built the basic plumbing for the Network. Quite a few of the technologies used today are derived from public sector R&D.
Which brings one to the question posed by Mr. Herbert. What are the priorities for the nation, and who is going to foot the bill? Perhaps not many lessons have been learnt from the recent disasters.
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