Economic Development and Technological Innovation Need Government Support

"The United States government has subsidized and protected the new technologies that have dominated each phase of its economic development. In the 19th century, it protected railroad investors from losses, and relied on hefty import duties to protect northern factories. In the 20th century, the American government aided automobile makers by subsidizing oil production and road-building, supplemented for many years by different tariffs."

Biden's Tariffs Are a Good Idea, Zachary D. Carter, Slate  

Alexander Hamilton writes an often overlooked (I hadn't heard of it anyway) report in 1791 opposing Laissez-faire political economy and initiating a school of thought in American history known as Infant Industry Theory. IIT maintains that transformative technologies require active and ongoing government support in order to survive against a status quo that is inevitably stacked against them; primarily stacked in defense of already existing markets and market positions. Sounds kind of obvious when stated plainly but to free market fundamentalists this is sacrilegious talk. Also, conservative libertarians (other side of the market fundamentalist coin) are probably not surprised to be hearing such radical statism coming from Hamilton. They've never forgiven him for National banks. 

Carter expects the EV tariffs combined with the Inflation Reduction Act will spur green innovation and development in the domestic automobile industry. Hope so but I fear the tariffs might enable more industry foot-dragging, trying to max out fossil fuel profit returns before transitioning to the slimmer margins available producing EVs. 

That China can now produce an EV that costs about $10,000 and another that can go 1300 miles on one charge is a Big Fail, and should be a humiliating embarrassment, for Tesla and the domestic automobile industry. But most coverage in the mainstream media I see is about how China "unfairly" subsidizes their EV industry. The meaning of "unfairly" here is pure free market myth bullshit. Perhaps US subsidies that go to fossil fuel industries ought to instead be going to EV production and infrastructure or that'd be "unfairly" too?!

Laissez-faire, Neoclassical, or free market capitalism, always rigged against workers, or labor, and all the while the envious model of economic growth in the world, is now being shown up by State capitalist China. And, as if beating us soundly in economic growth year-in-year-out for going on three decades were not bad enough, China is now blowing us off the road in technological innovation, the other thing the free marketeers are always boasting no one can do better. 

Meanwhile, corporate rule in the US actually obstructs and sabotages government efforts to address climate change. And has shown little awareness to date that this is a colossal losing strategy in a long-run that looms closer by the day. Just yesterday Grump promised, if elected, to stop immigration and "burn baby burn." Not to mention all the other horribles that will ensue if that miscreant is re-elected, this will accelerate authoritarian China's position in global affairs and will isolate and ruin America's.