293
Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo. That Should Terrify You (www.thedrive.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
125 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 4 points 2 months ago* (8 children)

So the thesis of this piece is the government picking winners and losers in the auto industry through opaque mechanisms should terrify you because you should believe in total free market capitalism.

There's plenty I don't agree with regarding this administration's trade or industrial policy. This reasoning though, ain't it. It ain't even new with this administration. I'm not getting the vapors over corrupt auto industry protectionism. And I'm certainly not concerned about whatever lib shit this guy is wound up about.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 8 child comments
    •
  • [–] 9 points 2 months ago* (5 children)

    It's because it's not transparent and seems arbitrary, this isn't mentioned but these are the perfect conditions for corruption or simple stupidity.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    not transparent and seems arbitrary

    Opaque regulatory inertia favoring established players could be the story of the American auto industry for the last century.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    I’D be fine with that. Even with all the offshored parts and supply chain, the auto industry is still a huge part of the American economy, with a lot of related jobs. I want it to continue doing that

    However excessive protectionism isn’t a viable strategy when there’s also a renewed commitment to obsolete technology and cancelling anything that would have encouraged change. I suppose this favors established industry in the short term but it really seems like forcing them to buy a shovel to dig their own graves.

    The problem is if this is a payoff to musk, helping Tesla succeed at everyone else’s expense. Favoritism toward one specific person or company is never the right choice

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 8 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    this isn't mentioned but these are the perfect conditions for corruption or simple stupidity

    At this point, I think it’s safe to assume corruption and stupidity are the default, much to everyone’s chagrin.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 5 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    So the thesis of this piece is the government picking winners and losers in the auto industry through opaque mechanisms should terrify you because you should believe in total free market capitalism.

    Those are not the only choices. For example, a rules-based and facts-based system of regulation is another possibility. But the current system's rule appears to be that the spoils go to whoever got a slice of Trump's goldfish-like attention, or wrote him a fat enough check.

    And you might well get the vapors the next time one of the US automakers receives a massive government bailout because their having been protected from competition left them unable to compete in the global market, or possibly even in the time before that when US consumers are being forced to buy sub-mediocre products in order to fatten the bonuses of non-performing parasitic executives.

    And it's good to remember that free markets are a myth, and that real capitalists love anything that shelters them from having to compete, even if it's protectionism.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

    Don't mistake my lack of sympathy with the authors diagnosis with my actual diagnosis. Dude literally complains about government picking winners and losers as the main reason you should be terrified in conclusion. That's a remarkably naive thing for an auto industry editor to write with a straight face, to the point that it breaks credulity. You should hate the entire system, not just Trump, is my conclusion.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent