$500,000 Per Job, Your Tax Dollars At Work
A federal grant of $150,000,000 will create 300 “permanent” jobs. That’s $500,000 per job. The occasion was a new battery factory in Michigan that will produce batteries for electric cars.
When we point out the Government is picking winners and losers this is what we mean.
Problem is, there is no market for these batteries, what demand there currently is, is being met with existing factory capacity.
To spur demand for the batteries, which are supposed to go in electric cars the Government is further offering a $7,500.00 tax credit to purchasers of electric vehicles. If and when suitable mass market electric cars actually become available to the mass market.
Prediction: Within 5 years that factory will be shut and the workers laid off. Because there is not enough demand.
Giving grants to battery companies solves another more pressing political need. It quite nicely ties environmental policy in with economic policy. Our Government loves to do that. And when that state has lots of electoral votes in Presidential elections, even better.
With this tax credit and federal grant the Government is saying electric cars are the winners in the big federal sweepstakes. All other competing technologies are the losers. And indeed the losers will have a harder time competing, because their competitors got federal grants and tax credits artificially reducing their cost of manufacturing. The competing technologies didn’t and they actually have to sell their products at actual cost. A disadvantage to say the least.
What competing technologies are being stifled? I don’t know, their inventors / developers were discouraged from investing and working really hard at it, seems the Government already decided the future. No Mr Fusion running on coffee grounds for you!
Government money is the best money, because the Government never demands a return on the investment, and if the investment fails the politicians won’t come after you for the money. The politicians don’t want to remind people how bad their are at picking winners and losers.
Very little if any accountability.
