Once again Michigan Capitol Confidential nails it. “It” being the foolishness of our present governor, and what I fear to be the fatal conceit of the former MEDC czar who is about to become governor: Picking economic winners. Given his history, it may be even harder for Rick Snyder to resist the Sirens of Corporatism than it was for Jenny. Statism is very much a characteristic of “moderates.” Just look at George Bush.
An article in the July 24 Detroit Free Press reported, “Companies are searching for a billion-dollar breakthrough in battery design. General Dynamics is working on a zinc-air cell battery. Ford is actively interested in a sodium-sulfur cell. Gulton Industries and General Motors are tinkering with lithium…All the activity is bound to pay off probably within the next five years…”
The promise sounds so bright that readers might imagine that the Michigan Legislature’s recent authorization of $500 million worth of subsidies and tax breaks for car battery makers is a good investment. Unfortunately, that article appeared on July 24, 1967.
Read the whole thing.
I will note that 1967 was contemporaneous with envirostatist predictions of a new ice age. From “Ice Age” we went to “Global Warming” and have arrived, temporarily, at “Climate Change.” Credit where it is due, while the labels have been contradictory, scientifically corrupt and consequently increasingly ephemeral, the economic instincts have been unwavering.
Paul Ehrlich, call your office.