>> For the most part, businesses don't do much if any basic research because there's no clear path to a payoff.
> Businesses (and individuals) often contribute to universities monies which are used for basic research. It becomes the university's endowment. A great deal of basic research is funded this way. Often in return the university will name the building after the donor.
Your link doesn't seem to support your conclusion very well, but rather echoes my points:
> ...She points out that the other likely [non-government] source of research funding—industry—prefers to direct its money to projects that affect the bottom line. “Industry is focused on applied research that will result in the development of products with immediate commercial application,” she says. “But fundamental or basic research is needed in order to create the knowledge base that leads to more applied research.
> ...
> The AAAS has the data to support Waters’ concern about corporate research: 80 cents of every dollar that industry spends on R&D goes to development, and only 20 cents goes to basic and applied research, a ratio that is the polar opposite of that found in civilian science agencies.
> At BU, whose researchers study an enormous range of subjects, from the birth of frogs to the birth of planets, about 80 percent of the roughly $350 million for sponsored research received in FY 2014 (down from a 2010 peak of $407 million) came directly from the federal government, and another 10 percent originated in government grants and came to BU through other institutions, such as Harvard or MIT.
That's 90% federal funding. Why do you make such a big deal out of the remaining 10%?
> Matt Hourihan, director of the AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program, says the notion that corporate and foundation sponsors are waiting in the wings is a comforting one, but his association’s research has found no evidence that it’s true. So far, says Hourihan, the biggest increases have come from university coffers. “Industry contributions haven’t increased appreciably, and I’m not sure we have a clear enough picture on the philanthropic front yet.”
So the government funds the bulk of basic research. The funding is declining for political reasons, but there's no evidence that private groups are picking up the slack.
> The government didn't do much of anything in basic research before WW2, it was privately funded.
And afterwards (as described in your link), the story drastically changed. Which was when much of the relevant research and technology development related to the iPhone was done.
However, in the last 10-15 years, it seems like starve-the-state politicians may be starting to change that successful formula:
> One Washington insider, an expert on US research funding ... says that “research and development funding generally does pretty well in the government’s budget process,” because the government branches agree it’s important to stay competitive in science and technology. But looming over every budget decision, this expert says, is a broader debate about what the size of the government should be and how the government should spend its limited research budget.