bob13579

6 ms·

1.
by bob13579 13y ago
Balanced Payments only allows transfers to customers with Wells Fargo accounts, right? Does Stripe allow transfers to all banks?
2.
by bob13579 13y ago
Can you give me an actual link that explains what you're specifically talking about?
3.
by bob13579 13y ago
Fisker 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.
4.
by bob13579 13y ago
Who determines what needs funding? A lobby of People Who Know Things? If you wanted to curb carbon emissions, there are many more efficient ways to do so.
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by bob13579 13y ago
This is just funny. Which car manufacturers on that $7,500 federal tax subsidy electric car list get $500M loans to build out their electric cars?
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by bob13579 13y ago
They have to. Franchise laws. Look it up. Here is MA's: http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXV/...
7.
by bob13579 13y ago
"What many of them did instead was to go bankrupt and ask for bailouts." This is quite astonishing. A few large American car companies with large pension liabilities needed the subsidies (I would have let them failed and let more efficient
8.
by bob13579 13y ago
How do you explain the $7,500 subsidy for each Tesla sold? Also, the government would have gifted them the money regardless of their ability to pay it back. Fisker couldn't pay back theirs, as did many other energy companies that went bankr
9.
by bob13579 13y ago
"But to your point, yes it is okay to give them half a billion. I don't see why government should not have supported them." I find it quite outrageous that we're enriching well-connected billionaires and millionaires, but what do I know? "A
10.
by bob13579 13y ago
The federal tax credit of $7,500, plus any state subsidies, for each Tesla sold doesn't ring a bell to you?
11.
by bob13579 13y ago
"they know what they're doing, and they're not picking winners and losers, they're playing the same game every investor plays: trying to decide who is going to win or lose before it happens." The government should be in the venture capitali
12.
by bob13579 13y ago
So any startup that competes in the pharmaceutical sector or biotechnology industry should be given hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded loans?
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by bob13579 13y ago
No, if you study the automotive industry, you'll see that those car manufacturers have been trying to get around those dealers by building their own dealerships (which are quickly shut) or selling their cars online (which again are prevente
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by bob13579 13y ago
Because we're subsidizing inefficient actors already, that makes it okay to subsidize other actors? Why subsidize any of the inefficiency at all? Tesla is certainly not curbing carbon emissions. More efficient combustible engines however ar
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by bob13579 13y ago
The critical component, by far, is the battery. If you find ways to build a better battery, electric cars are a practical reality. Academia is perfect for battery research.
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by bob13579 13y ago
Umm, no. Taxpayers are still subsidizing $7,500 per Tesla sold.
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by bob13579 13y ago
It's okay to give them half a billion dollars in loans because others got billions? Why not be outraged at everyone involved? The industry is colossally inefficient.
18.
by bob13579 13y ago
So the government is now a venture capitalist or investment bank and should be encouraged to pick winners and losers now? It's quite funny that these Tesla Roadsters are being bought by rich Americans, and being subsidized by average Americ
19.
by bob13579 13y ago
"Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, or smaller ones like Think, BYD, Tango, or Venturi" "smaller" was in reference to Honda, Toyota, BMW, and Mercedes. You can substitute Bright Automotive if you wish.
20.
by bob13579 13y ago
How exactly did Tesla earn an "A" up to that point? Every small electric car manufacturer was losing money left and right. Two smaller startups got the loan (Tesla and Fisker) to survive, while the others didn't (Bright Automotive, etc.). T
21.
by bob13579 13y ago
This is a different argument altogether. The original argument was about Tesla playing on an unfair playing field, which is demonstrably false. Other car manufacturers have to go through the same dealer network. Why should Tesla be allowed
22.
by bob13579 13y ago
Manufacturers would love to sell directly. They're doing it in Europe and aren't trying to enact protectionist dealership laws to protect their interests from upstart competitors. Dealers are notorious for bad service, and you can't shut un
23.
by bob13579 13y ago
Any of those dealers would love to sell Tesla cars, especially the higher-end ones that sell BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, and Lexuses. Nothing is stopping Tesla from partnering with dealers to do so. Small Chinese car manufacturers don't get s
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by bob13579 13y ago
Did Toyota or Honda or BMW, when they initially entered US markets, get special laws? Or did common laws apply to them?
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by bob13579 13y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-tier_(alcohol_distributio...
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by bob13579 13y ago
Exactly. I agree with you that car manufacturers should be able to sell directly. I'd love to buy a BMW directly instead of dealing with a dealership. The laws prevent BMW and other car manufacturers from doing so. The laws need to be chang
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by bob13579 13y ago
1) The large corporate interests don't own that infrastructure. The actual owners can choose whoever they want to represent. 2) What's stopping Tesla from partnering with Toyota dealers? 3) With its $10B valuation, Tesla could build 10 very
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by bob13579 13y ago
Tesla currently has a market cap over $10B. That is larger than Fiat's.
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by bob13579 13y ago
At a $10B valuation, Tesla is worth about 1000 times the average car dealership in Texas.
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by bob13579 13y ago
Yes, I agree that the law is a shoddy law but that shouldn't allow Tesla to sell directly. Would small car manufacturers get special rules too? Laws are laws. Either change the law or enforce it. That's fair. Not cronyism.

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