The commenter I was replying to wanted it to be a prerequisite for a degree, not for a grant. Grant awarding institutions also have to justify their spending to other parts of government and/or parliament (specifically, politicians). Both politicians and the public want to see breakthrough results that have the potential to cure cancer and whatnot. They want to boast that their funding contributed to winning some big-name prize and so on. You have to think with the mind of specific people in specific positions and what makes them look good, what gets them praise, promotions and friends.

> And the government’s interest in science isn’t novelty per se, it’s the creation and dissemination of factually correct information that can be useful to its constituents.

This sounds very naive.