Government Funding & Innovation

It seems that, looking at the best data we have, they don't go hand in hand. Well, to be fair, government funding doesn't seem to lead to economic growth, which isn't the same thing. And the study seems to indicate it's hard, if not impossible, to measure the long term "knock-on" effects of research (think ARPAnet and it's child, the internet), so maybe it's unfair to be completely dismissive of government research money. But, being a libertarian, I at least partly have to be dismissive.