i get what you're saying but i disagree that it is a flaw in libertarianism. DARPA is part of the DoD and defense has always been a grey area in this nation. The fed govt has the right and obligation to provide a national defense but most of the tech they have was/is developed by private contractors. Of course those contractors are paid by US taxpayers but again defense is where the public and private sectors meet, and i think it has always been that way. So i think it is unfair to say that certain things developed in the defense sector would never exist without public spending because that is a realm the govt has been operating in since the beginning. We don't know what it would look like if that was not the case. Notice that the USSR couldn't compete during the cold war, and there the govt controlled everything. Most of their advances were due to stealing our stuff anyway. Anyway we are truly advanced (in terms of defense) compared to the rest of the world and I don't think any Libertarian has a problem with DARPA or paying taxes to support defense related R&D (within reason), I don't. When that expands into non defense related shit like solyndra and electric cars, I DO.
According to the article, most government loans of this nature are paid back, presumably with interest. Also according to the article, the government has a better track record in that sense than private VC (hard to imagine a true apples to apples comparison, though). Possibly that's because government has to be more cautious, given the number of watchdogs (like yourself) out there. : )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TSLA will pay early for their loan. http://green.autoblog.com/2013/05/16/tesla-selling-new-stock-debt-worth-830m-to-pay-off-doe-loan/ Palo Alto, CA â May 15, 2013 - Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) announced today offerings of 2,703,027 shares of common stock and $450 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2018 in concurrent underwritten registered public offerings. In addition, Tesla has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 405,454 shares of common stock and $67.5 million in aggregate principal amount of the notes. In addition, Elon Musk, Tesla's Chief Executive Officer and cofounder, intends to purchase shares of common stock at the same public offering price for an aggregate purchase price of $100 million. Of this amount, approximately $45 million would be purchased in the common stock offering, and approximately $55 million would be purchased directly from Tesla in a subsequent private placement due to the waiting period requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The aggregate gross proceeds of the offerings, including the options granted to the underwriters, and the private placement is expected to be approximately $830 million. Tesla intends to use the net proceeds from the offerings to prepay Tesla's outstanding loan from the United States Department of Energy, pay the cost of convertible note hedge transactions and for general corporate purposes.
Sweetheart, it's not the loan that bothers me, it's the subsidy. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/18/unplug-the-electric-subsidies/
My point was the govt has a legitimate role in defense, it doesn't in electric cars. The govt backing certain companies is an unfair advantage against private competitors and it is NOT a role the federal govt has authority to be involved in. If people wanted shitty electric cars, they would be buying them, and the private manufacturers would be producing them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maverick, you are trading for your work only, true? That is your only job? So you are trader. If you are mark to market trader you can write off more than the $3000,00 loss every year. If you are trader you can write off the margin account interest on the tax form. Do you think this is (subsidy) to help you make more profit?
Personally I'd like to see government begin facilitating the expansion of CNG infrastructure, so people would start buying and driving CNG vehicles. Disclaimer: my own business benefiting from that is purely coincidental.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lucrum, my question is to Maverick. Stop distractions. I ask Maverick the question because I really want to know what is the difference. So Maverick can answer me and not be so mean like you Lucrum.