Once upon a time, we soared into the solar system… for a few years… then we hurried back. The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there’s no good reason to go into space–each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision.
via XKCD
What nonsense, the universe is an endless supply of resources, once we can collect them there is no limit to what we can do. The economic importance is obvious.