Re:Tesla Beats Delivery Forecast with 52% Quarterly Surge
by epistasis on Thursday July 02, 2015 @03:54PM
(#9821201)
It's getting downvoted because it's unnecessarily inflammatory, and ignorant of common practices with many other companies, both for companies that are well-established and for companies that bringing forth strategic emerging technologies.
Re:Tesla Beats Delivery Forecast with 52% Quarterly Surge
by ElComradio on Thursday July 02, 2015 @08:50PM
(#9822722)
Please describe how it is inflammatory.
Please describe how I implied Tesla was the only company who benefits from government largess.
Re:Tesla Beats Delivery Forecast with 52% Quarterly Surge
by mikeash on Thursday July 02, 2015 @04:37PM
(#9821452)
I think we as taxpayers got a great ROI on it, since new economic activity within the country translates into increased prosperity and increased tax revenue.
Looking purely at interest earned on a government loan misses half the picture since the government gets to essentially double-dip on all the success stories.
Re:Tesla Beats Delivery Forecast with 52% Quarterly Surge
by pbreit on Thursday July 02, 2015 @05:34PM
(#9821819)
Tesla is almost single-handedly dragging the world into the electric car age so I think the loan served its purpose quite magnificently. Oh, and the government got all its money back and then some. The only mistake was allowing the buyback in lieu of equity upside.
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/05/tesl...
Edit: I am a big fan of Tesla, SpaceX, and the feats Elon Musk has accomplished, but I don't think that means one can't be critical of him, his companies, or the way taxpayer money might have been spent to prop them up. It's undeniable that if the US govt had received some equity stake taxpayers could have more equally shared in Tesla's success, and I don't think there would have been anything unreasonable about that.