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True that Musk is absolutely not an outlier. But you can't really use him as an example of a company doing all their innovation without any government help. I'd
by otalp 9y ago
True that Musk is absolutely not an outlier. But you can't really use him as an example of a company doing all their innovation without any government help. I'd rather the government fund SpaceX and Tesla than Exxon anyway.
- kbenson 9y agoYou know, I was fully in agreement with you, but I just went looking for numbers and apparently Space X has only received about $20 million in local incentives and rebates for a space launch facility in Texas (although I'm not sure about the "only". That info is generally prefaced by a note that Space X doesn't disclise financial info, and I'm not sure if that implies there could be more or not). Almost all of the $4.9 billion that it's been reported his companies have received in subsidies is for Tesla and Solar City. So, apparently the example is actually better than it seemed to both of us.
- otalp 9y agoSubsidies are one thing, contracts are another form of support. Government contracts are what kept SpaceX afloat in 08, when they couldn't find private clients, and these contracts can be excess of 100 million.
- kbenson 9y agoIf we start counting government contracts as "support", there's a whole bunch of companies that need to be viewed in a different light. Every defense contractor for one. Every company that sells to the public school system for another. It's not like these companies are getting something for nothing, they still have to provide a good or service.