"I once heard Walter Cunningham say: I'd advise people to certainly NOT invest in space!
Space is far too risky to tempt entreprenoeurs! Insurance Companies hate to see so few launches, making anti-selection far too dangerous."

So, what. I would advise people not to invest in Space. When you have the power of the US govt working against you, generally speaking, it's better to look in other areas in which you can get a better return on your money. This doesn't mean that some investors, who has a clue of what's going on in this sector, couldn't invest money and make a good return. Similar thing over in Russia, I wouldn't advise people to invest in Russia, but there is no doubt that some investors are going to make big bucks by having invested in Russia- they will have had a clue what they are doing and are aware of the risks. Knowing the risks, doesn't mean you wouldn't fail, but at least you have a better chance.
The time to invest in Space, will the day some govt, wants to open this frontier. That day hasn't come yet. Meanwhile, we have some heros in the trenches, fighting and I think winning this battle for freedom.

"OTOH, centralized governments, with a strong willingness to go up there, won't fuss if a rocket or more blows at liftoff."

Why should they make a fuss if they waste tax payer money? Only time they are going to need to worry is when they might lose their jobs- even that is fairly insignificant. NASA has used over 1/2 trillion dollars of tax payer money. 500 billion dollars is not pocket change. What has NASA done with all this wealth? It's squandered it, over such things as not fussing over such things as rockets blowing up.