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Fairly cynical comments on this thread, many trying to uphold American values like "free market", "protectionism is bad", "what about the consumer", "not from m
by fleddr 4y ago
Fairly cynical comments on this thread, many trying to uphold American values like "free market", "protectionism is bad", "what about the consumer", "not from my tax money".
I find those remarks pretty naive. Every major power block heavily subsidizes strategic industries, now and forever. It's in no way new or remarkable, nor does it violate some principle. Most of the above concepts are pure fiction.
Semiconductors are not a "free market" in any ordinary sense. It costs tens of billions to enter the market and you'll buy an ASML machine, speaking of dependencies.
It's pretty obvious that this is in response to geopolitical instability. Being geo locked and this not really being a free market at all justify the "unusual" decision.
As is stands, food, energy, and yes...also semiconductors are foundational to a modern digital society. And they're interconnected, without semiconductors you won't have food either.
If you want to know what happens when semiconductors dry up, watch modern Russia. Arguably it's hard to do because of all the propaganda, but pretty much every domestic industry is falling apart, and therefore society falls apart.
Bottom line, don't be naive. Sure it sucks to give rich companies even more money but if that's what it takes, so be it. Also, rich is just one side of the coin, the other is that they spear-headed the information revolution.
- tootie 4y agoHere's my cynical take: This bill will subsidize a lot of jobs when we already have zero slack in our labor market. I think it's an excellent target for spending and would have a positive multiplier in normal times but in 2022 this seems likely to just goose inflation another inch. Unless we actually start seeing cyclical job losses finally hit right when this money starts being spent. Which is entirely possible.
- andrekandre 4y agoany way to stop inflation without a needing job losses?
- diordiderot 4y agoTaxes. People fear capital flight. Where you gonna go?
- fleddr 4y agoStill missing the point. You concerns mean absolutely nothing when the essentials in your society break down.
- tootie 4y agoInflation affects the availability of essentials. I'm not saying this is a bad deal just that it's possibly a big trade off doing it right now. It's also conceivable that increased production will alleviate some supply bottlenecks making this neutral on inflation.
- favflam 4y agoIf the government spends money on capacity increases, then inflation will go down, no? Labor is tight, but once production is up the supply curve shifts and prices start going down.