Our view is that the money should be provided to the granting councils, and the scientists should decide in a peer review process what research proposals seem most meritorious. Our ability to forecast what is going to lead to a certain end is so low that we do better by trying to identify what looks like the most promising research, whether or not it appears to have a commercial outcome, because in fact most of what has a commercial outcome in fact did come from basic research. Whether you look at MRIs or lasers, a whole variety of things all came out of basic research.
On February 12th, 2008. See this statement in context.