Government Vs Businesses; Who Innovates Best?

Soruce; http://www.nasa.gov/

Would it be a good idea to one day have space shuttles branded with "Save money. Live better?" or the flag of the United States? If you've read my last blog post you know about the many technologies that came about because of  NASA’s research. Now comes the question of how this trend will continue. NASA is a government agency, and many people have opinions of how well government run industry really does run. Commonly private corporations will usually create better and better products because they want to beat the competition. While government workers will just do what they have to because it’s not like they are going anywhere. So when it comes to space exploration and flight, the question needs to be examined:

Who can more effectively innovate, government or private industry?

While it’s very well known that the reason business are able to innovate so well because of competition, there have been times when competition between governments led to a great technology increase. I’m talking about none other than the Cold War, and more specifically the Space Race. Russia was already researching rockets and space flight, and after “Russians launched Yuri Garagin not merely into space but into orbit [...] it was seen as a proof that America remained far behind” (Engdahl). One month after this event JFK gave his famous line about putting a man on the moon. This struggle between the US and Russia led to a competition that created the modern space technology. Business aren’t the only ones that can innovate.

Nowadays the Cold War is over, so we must have lost this sense of competition right? Well after some research I have noted that there may be something better than competition for space, and not as nuclear threatening. Cooperation with the ESA (European Space Agency),is NASA’s friendly rival. The first listed objective in the NASA-ESA Agreement , which is also a huge document dedicated to cooperation, is “to provide the basis for cooperation between NASA and ESA in the detailed design, development, operation, and utilization of the permanently inhabited civil international Space Station for peaceful purposes”. Cooperation has led to unification of Europe and North America when it comes to space. Instead of building their own space stations they share one, and lots of developments have been made without worry of being better than the other. It may not lead to faster and more innovation, but it does lead to a safer and more understanding process.

Another pro to government versus private industry is that the government has a larger budget and can afford paying for super expensive space technology without the worries of losing profit. However when it comes down to the numbers things aren't looking so good. The budget for NASA is currently around 17.6 billion dollars. That's a lot of money, but the largest business in the US, Wal-Mart, makes a revenue of 351.3 billion. However the US government has a revenue around 3 trillion, and if the proper steps were taken much more resources could be dedicated to NASA.

Another issue with money is, when in a private company, many is wasted and gone into someone’s or some group’s bank account. If you take a look at the top 10 richest people in America, you have 4 members of the Walton family, the owners of Wal-Mart. Compared to NASA and other government programs where this money is all spent back into the economy and it is all spent, with no one group or  person holding the majority.

Lastly there is one last issue between private industry and government programs. Using the Wal-Mart example one more time, a quick Google search of “Wal-Mart lawsuit” will get you an uncountable amount of results. Private industry has to worry about it’s customers, and it’s reputation. Obviously so does the government, but sending 4 people into space and them accidentally all dying is different when it was done by Wal-Mart compared to NASA. In one they gave their life for the research and progress of their country, and the other they did for their paycheck.

So which is better at having good and efficient innovation? The government or private industry? I believe a government program and continued/expanded funding of NASA will be the only way to go. Less risks taken and full cooperation.

FUTURE RESEARCH: What are the economic gains from space exploration, and what are the costs?