Yes, I do. There is a book by Daniel S. Greenberg called “The Politics of Pure Science.” You can probably get it via interlibrary loan. Greenberg actually debunks the “legends of bygone riches” by analyzing scientific expenditures during the various times.

All my professors rave about that time period where they could get funded under the pretense that the work they were doing was related to the war effort. For instance, my sedimentology professor explored river processes in Alaska because it was feared that the Russians might invade from that area and hey, learning about the geologic setting of ancient river beds may come in handy!

I guess it goes hand-in-hand with your argument on energy concerns however. Fifty years ago, we cared about foreign policy but today we care about the future of our energy. Science gets the call to arms when it’s needed – till then, the funding just remains tucked away.