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A comment on Tesla Was Cash Flow Positive Last Week, CEO Musk Says. Parent comment

Re:Tesla Was Cash Flow Positive Last Week, CEO Musk Says by pm90 on Wednesday December 05, 2012 @10:54AM (#4876768)
Well, they are not the same thing but: the govt. did invest in creating the ARPANET, and the DOE still counts as one of the largest customers of supercomputers. If the Govt. invests in new tech. areas that the private sector is unwilling/unsure of investing for the purpose of pushing the industry ahead, I don't really see anything wrong with that.
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Re:Tesla Was Cash Flow Positive Last Week, CEO Musk Says by twoodfin on Wednesday December 05, 2012 @10:56AM (#4876787)
That's not the same thing, and just my point. The government didn't give Intel, Microsoft or Netscape $200M (or whatever the inflation-adjusted figure would be).
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Re:Tesla Was Cash Flow Positive Last Week, CEO Musk Says by jbooth on Wednesday December 05, 2012 @11:36AM (#4877036)
The market's an optimization system, it's not some religious object with holy precepts.

Sometimes you need to give optimization systems a hint.

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Re:Tesla Was Cash Flow Positive Last Week, CEO Musk Says by twoodfin on Wednesday December 05, 2012 @11:57AM (#4877144)
The government has dozens of ways to structure incentives without making half billion dollar investments in particular companies.

Telecom reform in 1996, for example, was a huge boon for the internet and related industries, and it didn't require picking one specific company over another.

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Re:Tesla Was Cash Flow Positive Last Week, CEO Musk Says by jbooth on Wednesday December 05, 2012 @12:29PM (#4877316)
Tesla wasn't picked over another company, they were the only company trying this.

The DOE gives all kinds of grants and loans to innovative energy companies because it's seen as a national security issue.

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