4 ms·

All major airlines. Food production (farming + processors + distribution). Banking. Rail distribution. If any of these encountered existential threats, I have n

All major airlines. Food production (farming + processors + distribution). Banking. Rail distribution. If any of these encountered existential threats, I have no doubts that the government would step in citing (reasonable) national security concerns.

coliveira 4y ago
Now add microchips and all kinds of technologies deemed to be of national interest. You also forgot the national auto industry that was bailed out from certain disaster in 2008.
therealdrag0 4y ago
Existential threat is different than good old fashion competition tho. Our businesses are clearly no where close to USSR level folly and “pretend”.
KirillPanov 4y ago
> Food production (farming You have obviously lived in cities your entire life. Farms fail all the time. Ask any banker at a branch in an agricultural area.
- smolder 4y ago
  I remember reading comments here previously about how bankruptcy is frequent and almost a normal part of business for the farms that prop up corporate agriculture. I got the impression it was more of an accounting trick, like Facebook being Irish, and not an indication that the industry itself is unprofitable. Are the bankruptcies you're referring to leaving people in poverty? Can you speak to what portion of them are just failures on paper, as opposed to "real" failures that lead to halted operations and force people out of farming altogether?
- gnz11 4y ago
  I would guess that mostly applies to small-scale farms and not the industrialized ones. OP is probably referring to the massive agriculture subsidies given out by the federal government to prop up the industry.
  - KirillPanov 4y ago
    The term "too big to fail" refers to businesses, not entire industries. Every industry is too big to fail. Honestly, other than entertainment, I can't think of any situation where the government would allow an entire industry to fail.
- fundad 4y ago
  The ones that have to borrow money from a bank are not “the industry”. The industry got paid to destroy product to keep food prices high.
mbg721 4y ago
To the extent airlines aren't allowed to fail, that's all post-PanAm. And TWA. And Eastern.
Manuel_D 4y ago
Subsidy is not the same as state control. The PLA straight up owns companies. In Russia, the government directly operates over 80% of railway capacity. The fact that the US government is one of the primary customers of, say, Lockheed Martin does not make it a state owned company in the same vein s the above. It's still got public stock, an elected board, and otherwise operates like any other enterprise.

coliveira 4y ago

Now add microchips and all kinds of technologies deemed to be of national interest. You also forgot the national auto industry that was bailed out from certain disaster in 2008.

therealdrag0 4y ago

Existential threat is different than good old fashion competition tho. Our businesses are clearly no where close to USSR level folly and “pretend”.

KirillPanov 4y ago

> Food production (farming You have obviously lived in cities your entire life. Farms fail all the time. Ask any banker at a branch in an agricultural area.

smolder 4y ago
I remember reading comments here previously about how bankruptcy is frequent and almost a normal part of business for the farms that prop up corporate agriculture. I got the impression it was more of an accounting trick, like Facebook being Irish, and not an indication that the industry itself is unprofitable. Are the bankruptcies you're referring to leaving people in poverty? Can you speak to what portion of them are just failures on paper, as opposed to "real" failures that lead to halted operations and force people out of farming altogether?
gnz11 4y ago
I would guess that mostly applies to small-scale farms and not the industrialized ones. OP is probably referring to the massive agriculture subsidies given out by the federal government to prop up the industry.
- KirillPanov 4y ago
  The term "too big to fail" refers to businesses, not entire industries. Every industry is too big to fail. Honestly, other than entertainment, I can't think of any situation where the government would allow an entire industry to fail.
fundad 4y ago
The ones that have to borrow money from a bank are not “the industry”. The industry got paid to destroy product to keep food prices high.

mbg721 4y ago

To the extent airlines aren't allowed to fail, that's all post-PanAm. And TWA. And Eastern.

Manuel_D 4y ago

Subsidy is not the same as state control. The PLA straight up owns companies. In Russia, the government directly operates over 80% of railway capacity. The fact that the US government is one of the primary customers of, say, Lockheed Martin does not make it a state owned company in the same vein s the above. It's still got public stock, an elected board, and otherwise operates like any other enterprise.