5 ms·
No, they couldn't. There are several small electric car startups that wouldn't have a chance in the world to get those types of loans.
by qwanzi77 13y ago
No, they couldn't. There are several small electric car startups that wouldn't have a chance in the world to get those types of loans.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- eightyone 13y agoI think his point is that government shouldn't pick winners and losers with taxpayer money.
- ankitml 13y agolooking at fairness in retrospect. Musk justified the loan. He built the damn thing, an (possibly) eco friendly, not dependent on fossil fuel car that people love. back in my country we have our own electric car company, which have been able to do the thing, but they havent been able to get people support. Musk was able to do that.
- eightyone 13y agoI'm not saying that Musk didn't build a hell of a car. He did. What I'm saying is that government shouldn't be using my tax dollars to give out loans to private companies on the off chance that they might be successful and be able to repay the loan. Plenty haven't been.
- qwanzi77 13y agoSo you should only give $500M loans to rich, well-connected, billionaires, right? Wow. There were quite several car manufacturers similar to Tesla's size before their large taxpayer-subsidized loan who didn't get those loans. I guess you must be a well-connected billionaire to qualify. I guess that counts as "fair" nowadays.
- danesparza 13y agoRemember the word 'loan' designates a debt instrument. It needs to be paid back. If you don't have the capital to secure the loan (and pay it back), no -- you shouldn't get the money.
- bob13579 13y agoFisker and Solyndra and several others couldn't pay back their loans. The government didn't arrest any of them and didn't take any of their personal assets. The debt was simply discharged.