Those who vehemently argue for either a total reliance on the private sector or the opposite regarding the public sector consistently overlook the inherent complexity of most innovations, to wit: fracking

Whatever you think about fracking itself, especially its environmental consequences, it turns out that it is a typical and uniquely American outcome of both private and public investment. Here’s a good summary that appears in The Economist:

Federal money helped finance development of the “fracking” technology that makes shale gas accessible, just as it paid for the internet’s precursors. However its use was commercialised by a Texas wildcatter called George Mitchell, the sort of risk-taker America has in abundance. In Europe shale gas has been locked in by green rules and limited property rights. In America shale has already lowered consumers’ energy bills and, by displacing coal, carbon emissions. In future, it will give a spur to the domestic manufacture of anything needing large amounts of energy.           The Economist