Car insurance is no doubt a good thing for the purchaser, but it is hardly the sort of thing that adds greatly to national productivity. It is a private transaction with limited life. Education and research as much more than just private transactions. Government investment in these areas should be seen as that - investment in increased productivity and adding value to what all parties love to proclaim is the nation's greatest resource, its people. That seems like a worthwhile return.
History provides the empirical evidence for the return on investment in education and research.
In both cases this was made possible by an all-out effort for technical and scientific training and research. Numbers were sent abroad, and national institutions were developed as rapidly as possible. Certainly education was not the only factor that contributed to the transformation, but the change would not have happened without it. It was not a sufficient condition, but it was certainly a necessary one. This has been obvious to the South-East Asian tigers, now in headlong growth.