Energy and Food

When I was about ten, I read a book concerning possible plans for manned space outposts. A huge number of the facts and ideas presented are lost to me. I remember a long argument suggesting that planetary colonies were not the path to follow, due to the high energy cost of escaping planetary gravity. The analogy was struggling to escape a deep well, and looking around the plane for the first deep well to hurdle into.
I also remember an analysis of the relative merits of animals for foods, and a suggestion that their short time to slaughter, high fecundity rate, and low input food to output meat ratio identified rabbits as an ideal food source for confined quarters. They also have a relatively high surface area per unit of mass, this leads to cheaper leathers and furs than from cows or other large mammals.

Are the current outbreaks in poultry a dire warning to us before we stack a single species sky high in tight quarters?

Is there any new serious work being done on the economics of space exploration. I have seen recently an article explaining the large initial capitalization of space projects, that tends to limit their attractiveness to private investors, and arguing that government would need to fund these projects. If it is an unattractive use of private capital, why is it a good idea for any government to fund it? And will the government get enough rabbits?