Government is the biggest job killer. The “intercontinental railroad” President Malaprop celebrates as a marvel of central planning was actually the Solyndra of its time: “The transcontinental railroad lost tons of money. The government never covered its costs, and most rail lines that used the tracks went bankrupt or continued to be subsidized by taxpayers.” To someone like Obama, that’s a ringing endorsement.
This post was last modified on January 26, 2021
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PsyD; Nice analogy.
I don't generally have a problem with government subsidizing projects like this (Transportation, Space Exploration, Communications). The classical economic view of government - projects too expensive, too large in scope/size for private enterprise (regulated monopolies?) for the general benefit of society. Spin-off technologies are worth the cost alone, however the people should be paid back (long term loans (backed with collateral) instead of subsidies, for example) and all production\materials should be from\completed within the US by US workers.
The 'Projects' themselves are not 'usually' the problem. It's the way the projects and subsidies are selected, passed into existence and distributed by the 'Lobbying System' (read as - bribes, favors, promises, ... corruption, avarice) of government. One of the things the Founding Fathers failed to make provisions for\against in the Constitution, others being 'Term Limits' and 'Private Central Banking'.
Can it be changed? Only by a well educated, free and united peoples.
"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories."
Thomas Jefferson
Perhaps we could make the analogy that the intercontinental railroad (sic) was sort of the Apollo Program of its day -- kind of a government-funded loss-leader meant to kick start private enterprise and create an actual profitable industry behind it.