Every few days now there are stories like this, and I always have to double check to make sure it’s not a repeat of previous stories we’ve alreadydiscussed. Unfortunately, they don’t usually turn out to be reruns.A year and a half ago:
Obama announces Abound Solar to get $400M federal loan guaranteeThe February 28, 2012 Denver Post reports that they are laying off "280 workers and delaying a new factory in Indiana." As usual, the complaint is that China is subsidizing the solar panel industry there, and American companies can't compete. This leads to two possible solutions:
1. Enforce existing antidumping law, by imposing an antidumping duty on those subsidized solar panels.
2. Don't pour public funds into companies that can't compete with Chinese subsidies.
If you do #1, maybe you don't need to make loan guarantees. In addition, antidumping duties are money into the U.S. Treasury; those loan guarantees will evnetually turn into money out of the U.S. Treasury.
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