The Hill had an interesting opinion piece on what it will take to get Elon Musk's hands out of taxpayer wallets:
A study published two years ago by The Los Angeles Times revealed that just three of Musk's ventures – SolarCity Corp. (which manufactured and installed solar energy systems before its 2016 merger with Tesla Motors Inc.), Tesla Motors Inc. (which manufactures electric vehicles), and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX (which builds rocket ships) – had received $4.9 billion in government subsidies to that point in time. By now, Musk's various ventures have sucked well over $5 billion from government coffers.
[...] By definition, [crony capitalism] distorts the marketplace, and warps investment decisions better made by private stewards of finance unencumbered by political considerations, whose only fiduciary responsibility is to those whose funds they manage. By adding the political calculus to the decision-making matrix, it alters outcomes, and prevents the most economically efficient deployment of limited financial resources.
[...] Here's the question I hear when I'm talking to friends in Georgia who ask me to explain Washington to them: "Why should those guys in Washington take my hard-earned tax dollars and use them to lower the price of an electric car for some movie star in Hollywood?"
[...] So that's why I'm hoping Tesla's Model 3 is a yuuuuuuuuge hit. I hope Elon Musk sells enough of those cars that he can make a profit on his own, without needing to dip any further into our pocketbooks and wallets.
Previously: Elon Musk Claims to Have "Verbal Approval" to Build New York to Washington, D.C. Hyperloop
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Wednesday August 09 2017, @05:23PM (2 children)
Except only rich people can afford to move to "regions with large subsidies." Moving and finding a job costs money, and the cost of living tends to be higher in EV quota states.
(Score: 2) by aclarke on Wednesday August 09 2017, @07:07PM (1 child)
Huh? Only rich people can afford to move? That's ridiculous. The biggest move I ever made, from one country to another, was made when I had no money and no job. But that's an anecdote, not data. What about, for example, the 13.6M people in Ontario who would have qualified for a $13k incentive [gov.on.ca] on a Chevrolet Spark without having to move anywhere?
By your logic, the incentive in Ontario is now for those people too poor to move to a different region. So again, not only for rich people.
Sometimes it's good to understand when you've missed something, and then concede your point.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Thursday August 10 2017, @02:28PM
I missed the economics of moving, such as whether the move ought to occur before or after finding a job offer, and if after, who pays for airfare to and from in-person interviews.