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>It's ridiculous that Google has to It doesn't have to. This is a choice Google is making on how it wants to conduct charity. >The federal government should b

>It's ridiculous that Google has to It doesn't have to. This is a choice Google is making on how it wants to conduct charity. >The federal government should be providing interest-free working capital and guaranteeing the sale of every glove and mask Sale at what price? It has to be bounded or else it sounds ripe for fraud (people are monsters). > anyone can produce. So is the loan for anyone that wants it? Or just for companies that have proven they can make gloves and masks? If the former, what stops people from just using the loan to fund salaries while making a ritual display of making masks for a few months and then declaring bankruptcy after collecting salaries during that time?

blackguardx 7y ago
I think you are misunderstanding the parent's point. The basic gist is that any glove, mask, and ventilator manufacturer should at the very least get immediate working capital loans/grants from the government to expand production. Guaranteeing the sale means that the manufacturer will assume no risk for overproduction. The price would be whatever the prevailing market price was before the crisis or maybe with a slight premium. In essence, the government should remove all business risk for manufacturers of needed equipment.
- kortilla 7y ago
  What makes you think this is not already the case?
AaronFriel 7y ago
The government can, in an emergency like this, set prices. They could set prices at the previous price for bulk PPE and order companies to fulfill it and if they refuse, eminent domain them and sell them to someone who will. As much as this will annoy civil libertarians, the powers of the state are vast and in emergencies should be used to protect people when justifiable and without harming people. The takings clause will ensure that whatever companies are affected will be monetarily compensated and they have recourse through our courts.
thedance 7y ago
Oh gosh you're right, I hadn't and nobody else had thought of setting a sensible price before you mentioned it. Thanks for saving the country, internet person! Look, it's pretty simple. You send a Major General and their staff to every factory that has ever shipped a box of nitrile gloves. You tell them that you will buy, at 150% the normal wholesale price, every glove they can produce for the next year. You provide them with a blank check to buy inputs and secure a labor force. If there is an input they can't get you put the General on the phone with another one who is sitting at the oil refinery or the paper mill or whatever. Civil defense is 99% logistics. If you can't use your gigantic military apparatus to make stuff, it's useless.
throwaway_USD 7y ago
>This is a choice Google is making on how it wants to conduct charity. Maybe they should choose not to maximize tax avoidance instead.

blackguardx 7y ago

I think you are misunderstanding the parent's point. The basic gist is that any glove, mask, and ventilator manufacturer should at the very least get immediate working capital loans/grants from the government to expand production. Guaranteeing the sale means that the manufacturer will assume no risk for overproduction. The price would be whatever the prevailing market price was before the crisis or maybe with a slight premium. In essence, the government should remove all business risk for manufacturers of needed equipment.

kortilla 7y ago
What makes you think this is not already the case?

AaronFriel 7y ago

The government can, in an emergency like this, set prices. They could set prices at the previous price for bulk PPE and order companies to fulfill it and if they refuse, eminent domain them and sell them to someone who will. As much as this will annoy civil libertarians, the powers of the state are vast and in emergencies should be used to protect people when justifiable and without harming people. The takings clause will ensure that whatever companies are affected will be monetarily compensated and they have recourse through our courts.

thedance 7y ago

Oh gosh you're right, I hadn't and nobody else had thought of setting a sensible price before you mentioned it. Thanks for saving the country, internet person! Look, it's pretty simple. You send a Major General and their staff to every factory that has ever shipped a box of nitrile gloves. You tell them that you will buy, at 150% the normal wholesale price, every glove they can produce for the next year. You provide them with a blank check to buy inputs and secure a labor force. If there is an input they can't get you put the General on the phone with another one who is sitting at the oil refinery or the paper mill or whatever. Civil defense is 99% logistics. If you can't use your gigantic military apparatus to make stuff, it's useless.

throwaway_USD 7y ago

>This is a choice Google is making on how it wants to conduct charity. Maybe they should choose not to maximize tax avoidance instead.