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>the most obvious negative outcome would be the loss of whatever the capacity was doing to begin with. As long as VC is lighting money on fire on obviously stu

>the most obvious negative outcome would be the loss of whatever the capacity was doing to begin with. As long as VC is lighting money on fire on obviously stupid ventures like Juciero and subsidizing Uber/Lyft rides to far below cost for a decade, NFTs, and transparent frauds like FTX, it's hard to get worked up about government deciding to make sure our basic national security needs are covered. VC has not proven themselves to be paragons of free private market efficiency for the past decade.

whatshisface 3y ago
There's almost no overlap between VC and anything involving sheet metal. In fact the way manufacturing events never make it out of industry press is a good sign the troubles will need to get very bad indeed before the feedback in the democratic system begins to control them.
- dralley 3y ago
  Kind of proves the point. Private capital is more willing to invest in stupid shit that they can convince themselves will 10x than in something worthwhile that probably can't be 10x'd easily, like manufacturing.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - whatshisface 3y ago
    Venture capital is a small fraction of private capital. If you stretch the definition to its limits, you could say that tech companies are a big fraction of the total stock market cap, but the majority is still accounted for by companies like P&G.
caseysoftware 3y ago
> "As long as VC is lighting money on fire on obviously stupid ventures" The difference is that I'm not forced to fund those idiots.
- no_wizard 3y ago
  In some ways you are, since we all pay the cost of monetary policy and 0% interest rates didn't happen in a vacuum. They're interconnected and in more ways than monetary policy but its the most obvious example. Now I'm not debating the merits here, simply stating that the speculation VCs engaged in was in large part due to the "cheapness" of money, which is directly the result of monetary policy since 2008 or so. This drives things like safe returns vs riskier returns, which can in turn fuel bubbles since safe returns[0] can't pace inflation, the money goes elsewhere, into riskier things over time, creating bubbles and over-investment as people chase better returns. This makes it more expensive over time to do things, like holding safe investments vs riskier ones, because your future value is eroded. This also translates into other societal issues, and while it may not always be the main cause it will exacerbate existing problems, particularly in markets where financing is prevalent, like housing. [0]: Such as Certificates Of Deposit, which are all the rage again now that interest rates are higher than have been in ~15 years

whatshisface 3y ago

There's almost no overlap between VC and anything involving sheet metal. In fact the way manufacturing events never make it out of industry press is a good sign the troubles will need to get very bad indeed before the feedback in the democratic system begins to control them.

dralley 3y ago
Kind of proves the point. Private capital is more willing to invest in stupid shit that they can convince themselves will 10x than in something worthwhile that probably can't be 10x'd easily, like manufacturing.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- whatshisface 3y ago
  Venture capital is a small fraction of private capital. If you stretch the definition to its limits, you could say that tech companies are a big fraction of the total stock market cap, but the majority is still accounted for by companies like P&G.

caseysoftware 3y ago

> "As long as VC is lighting money on fire on obviously stupid ventures" The difference is that I'm not forced to fund those idiots.

no_wizard 3y ago
In some ways you are, since we all pay the cost of monetary policy and 0% interest rates didn't happen in a vacuum. They're interconnected and in more ways than monetary policy but its the most obvious example. Now I'm not debating the merits here, simply stating that the speculation VCs engaged in was in large part due to the "cheapness" of money, which is directly the result of monetary policy since 2008 or so. This drives things like safe returns vs riskier returns, which can in turn fuel bubbles since safe returns[0] can't pace inflation, the money goes elsewhere, into riskier things over time, creating bubbles and over-investment as people chase better returns. This makes it more expensive over time to do things, like holding safe investments vs riskier ones, because your future value is eroded. This also translates into other societal issues, and while it may not always be the main cause it will exacerbate existing problems, particularly in markets where financing is prevalent, like housing. [0]: Such as Certificates Of Deposit, which are all the rage again now that interest rates are higher than have been in ~15 years