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110 sats \ 7 replies \ @Undisciplined 16 Apr \ parent \ on: Getting manufacturing back econ
What can "JUST DO IT" mean, other than state-run enterprise, then?
That's the worst self-own of all. If Taiwan is dead-set on producing way below cost (which I take to be the implication), then we should just be happy to accept the artificially inexpensive inputs.
Huh? Why does the state decide what "we" wanna do?
I meant it more like:
Current scenario: I as a citizen of the mighty USA think that the USA should manufacture semiconductors and thus I am voting for Donald Trump because he will make it so.
Desired scenario: I as a citizen of the mighty USA think that the USA should manufacture semiconductors and thus I am building a semiconductor factory and I shall elevate our might.
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Are you running a charity? If not, this is a very expensive enterprise and you'll go out of business. That's why it's important to figure out why it's not currently profitable and try to fix the incentives.
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It depends on why they prefer to produce abroad, but some combination of deregulation and tax breaks will either be sufficient to incentivize American production or American production is not economically viable.
If it's the former, then do that. If it's the latter, then we shouldn't make semiconductors here.
For those concerned with national security, the most efficient possibility would be requiring Made in America (or perhaps in allied countries) products be purchased for military/government use. That would put a floor under the domestic industry (or at least create supply chain robustness).
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Every contract I've ever closed with any branch of the US govt has been Buy America based. That's partially why these procurements are so costly. (This is the real reason why Boeing sells the USAF $20k soap dispensers, because the custom made-in-USA molds alone cost $200k a pop)
I've always thought that this was a defendable position for the USG: spend the public's money to the public's benefit, create jobs.
None of this prevents one from innovating tho. Remember how one cannot reuse rockets? But once you can, you suddenly find yourself decades ahead of your frenemies as a space power. Is it being used? Not that I know of, but I'm sure Elon would be game.
This is why I think that visionaries are needed more than used car salesmen, especially in politics. The art of not giving 2 fucks about "the deal".
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They'd have to be more serious about what "Buy American" means, though. My understanding is that a very large share of the inputs can be foreign sourced and still meet the criteria.
Obviously, making that stricter would be much more expensive, but potentially it could be offset by regulatory and tax changes.