Comment by ModernMech

> chosen exactly what to develop next, with their own (or investor's) dollars at stake.

We are talking about fundamental research here. Most investors are not interested in funding fundamental science, evidenced by the fact they have all the power to currently fund such work, but they choose not to.

> You can't claim the best at a subject and purport to demonstrate it by writing a book

They don't, they do it by doing science and building a reputation in their field for doing good work. People who work at the NSF and NIH are vouched for by others in their field.

> Real risk managers open hedge funds. Academics write about other's hedge funds.

The interests of private equity and hedge fund managers are well represented. They have plenty of say on public policy and how resources are allocated. It's good to give other people with different perspectives a say as well. Again, the total amount of money allocated for public research is very tiny compared to the rest of the federal budget, private research dollars, total hedge fund wealth, etc.