Afternoon Must-Read: James Pethokoukis vs. “Big Solar”
When there are negative externalities out there–political-military from boosting the incomes of not-very-friendly state actors like Muscovy and nonstate actors like Al Qaeda, narrow-environmental from local pollution, and broad-environmental from global warming–we like for the government to provide subsidies. Thus this from the usually-reliable James Pethokoukis strikes me as way, way, way off–subsidies for “Big Solar” are no more a problem than is the excessive power over our political system wielded by Big Poor Children:
Should Republicans Ignore Income Inequality? | National Review Online:
“Inequality has increased across advanced economies…
…Macro factors such as globalization and technology deserve most — but maybe not all — of the ‘blame.’ Big Government loves to pick winners and losers in the private sector. Some lucky ducks owe their place in the 1 percent or 0.1 percent or 0.01 percent to federal favoritism. Conservatives shouldn’t mind at all when value-creating innovators and entrepreneurs strike it rich while crony capitalists do not. The precious tax breaks and subsidies that go to rent seekers, such as those in the agriculture and alternative-energy sectors, should get the ax. Sorry, Big Sugar and Big Solar…