Awful lot of meat in your post. Can't say much during a lunch-break post, but I'll observe that there are a few billion dollars in the USG's ARRA grants, aimed at increasing T+D energy efficiency and improving renewable energy integration.
There's a remarkable degree of value in 'making something'. I've made 'fantasy stock' decisions based on whether or not a given company had a tangible product, and I wish I had a bit of money to throw at those decisions at times.
Such decisions directly chase the idea of strategic value in certain industries, mainly in energy and material security. See last quarter's rare earth metal 'panic', and speculate on what airlines are doing in the oil markets to cover their fuel supplies. See the massive US export of 'high technology', especially arms sales (tanks, jets, radar, and other military-sized toys ~ I love the DOD's research budgets). Heck, see farm subsidies.
The curious problem with capitalism is that it relies on there being disparity between the value of someone's work and the price they're willing to be paid for it. Eventually all the money winds up in the hands of the few who are paying for the work of many others', with only an increased disparity from the top to the bottom. If the 'top' isn't spending that money, preferably in a fashion that does not net returns, Bad Things happen to capitalism.