President-elect Donald Trump’s economic legacy may well depend on whether he prefers the comparative form of an adjective. Specifically, does he believe it is hard to make a living in the U.S. — or harder than it used to be? It is not an insignificant distinction. The central conceit of economic populism, dominating both the left and the right, is that things used to be better. This is a misdiagnosis. Making your way in an uncertain world and a constantly changing economy has always been hard — and always will be. But things are not harder than they used to be; in many ways, they’re getting easier. That may be a small and not especially helpful consolation to the millions of Americans struggling in today’s economy. But in terms of both political rhetoric and economic policy, the difference matters. It is true that inflation is still higher than it was before the pandemic, and this has made Americans’ lives harder and more uncertain (and is a big reason Trump won). But inflation is not driving his economic agenda, which aims to make America great again. The word again suggests there was a time, even before his first administration, when things were better. When exactly that was is unclear, but Trump has spoken about reviving manufacturing through tariffs, so let’s say it’s the postwar era of the 1960s. Which, to be fair, is not completely different from President Joe Biden’s agenda, which aimed to restore America’s greatness by empowering unions and subsidizing more manufacturing through industrial policy. But going back to America’s manufacturing economy would not actually be so great. It is tempting to romanticize the 1960s, when 30% of the labor force had manufacturing jobs that offered stable wages, long-term employment, a defined-benefit pension and enough income from a single earner to support a family. But that era was not as good as it seemed. Living standards were much lower; people lived in smaller houses and didn’t travel as much, and they were less likely to send their children to college. In 1965, 69.5% of prime working-age Americans were in the labor force. Today that figure is 83.3% — largely because so many women now work outside the home. Six decades ago, the U.S. had a much less inclusive economy, which did not offer wealth or stability for a majority of the population. This may be one reason there was so much social unrest during this supposed economic golden age. Today’s economy offers more opportunities to more people. Living standards, and life expectancy, are higher. More people go to college, own their home, have health insurance, can get credit, invest in the markets and receive retirement benefits. Wages have become more steady, and people stay in jobs longer. In short, the economy is more stable than it was 60 years ago. Any attempt to restore the economy of the past — whether by expanding tariffs, trying to revitalize unions that don’t fit the modern economy or imposing industrial policy — will not increase prosperity. It will create distortions that slow growth, increase the debt and help a few at the expense of many. What worked in Trump’s first term were practical policies that embraced the future, such as using the tax code to encourage more research and innovation and rescinding regulations that make the labor market less dynamic. Which way he’ll go in his second term remains uncertain.Sony is still slashing prices on consoles, controllers, and more for the holidays
So much for all the doom-and-gloom headlines about the health of the electric vehicle maker Rivian. Fresh off the news about a lifesaving deal with Volkswagen, the US startup just scored a $6.5 billion conditional loan from the Biden administration, enabling it to move forward with the construction of Project Horizon, a new factory that will bring thousands of new jobs to Georgia. Hmmm...Georgia... Before we get into the details about the new loan, the new Rivian factory, and Georgia, let’s take a quick look why it might have never happened. The loan — which Rivian is supporting through an equity investment — comes through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which sits under the umbrella of the Loan Programs Office of the US Department of Energy. The LPO was established by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 during the Bush administration, with the aim of incentivizing the private sector to commercialize high-impact, innovative energy technologies in the national interest. For the record, the mandate includes innovations in nuclear and fossil energy, not just renewables. Also during the Bush administration, in 2008 Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act. That law expanded the LPO to cover vehicles under the new Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. As a portfolio-based program, the LPO had failure built into it from the start, though not in a bad way. The high-impact mission entails some risk. However, with careful due diligence the portfolio is credited with remarkable success, regardless of individual failures (see more LPO background here ). If this is beginning to ring some bells, run right out and buy yourself a cigar. After all the administrative details were sorted out, the LPO was finally up and running by the time President Obama took office in 2009, and that’s when things went south. In 2011, the solar manufacturer Solyndra defaulted on a $535 million LPO loan, done in by competition from China, among other factors. The LPO went on to thrive , but the Solyndra failure was red meat to Republican members of Congress , who drew out their knives and made the most of a high profile opportunity to trash both President Obama and the LPO. As part of the trashing, Republican members of Congress made a lot of noise about killing the program. Thank goodness they didn’t follow through on the threats — right, Rivian? Well, here’s to second chances. The LPO never died, though it took a sort of holiday during the first Trump administration. In fact, it’s even bigger and better now. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) expanded the office’s lending capacity by almost $412 billion. As a reminder, the IRA is the Biden administration’s signature “climate bill.” Exactly zero Republican members of Congress voted for it. That explains why US Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) kicked off the 2024 election cycle by dragging Solyndra up out of the grave, cobwebs and all, and vowing to kill the LPO , somehow. “‘ Solyndra is going to look like chump change’” this time around,” is how Bloomberg Law reported the Senator’s comments on January 4th of this year. As it turned out, the Republican Party’s anti-LPO messaging failed to resonate during the campaign. Somewhere along the way it got dropped in favor of full throated scare-mongering over minority groups. Besides, the LPO supports job-creating ventures in red and blue states alike. Georgia is a good example. The state has two Democratic US senators, but otherwise it is dominated by Republican office-holders. Georgia holds 14 seats in the US House of Representatives, with Republicans holding a 9-5 advantage in the delegation. “ The Republican Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and both chambers of the state legislature,” Balletopedia also reminds us. Nevertheless, the state employment picture will benefit from an LPO loan guarantee of up to $1.45 billion to support a new factory in Georgia for the solar manufacturer Qcells. The Energy Department anticipates that will involve 1,200 construction jobs and almost 2,000 permanent jobs. That’s peanuts compared to the total of $12 billion in loan guarantees that the LPO deployed to support the expansion of the Vogtle nuclear power station in Waynesboro, Georgia. The project involves a peak of 9,000 construction jobs , with 800 jobs remaining once in operation. Rivian can’t beat Vogtle on construction jobs, but it runs away with the prize for permanent job creation. Project Horizon, located near the city of Social Circle, will have 7,500 slots to fill. Georgia is chipping in with an assist from its QuickStart technical training incentive program, helping to ensure that qualified workers from local communities are available to fill many of those jobs. When fully built out, Project Horizon will occupy 9 million square feet, which is big enough to accommodate the manufacture of 400,000 EVs per year. “At its Georgia facility, Rivian will produce its all-electric midsize platform (MSP) with its R2 and R3 models as the first variants in production,” the Energy Department explains, noting that the company currently produces commercial vans, the R1S three-row SUV, and the R1T pickup truck in Illinois (see lots more background here ). As of last year Rivian was still struggling to scale up, which may leave one wondering why the LPO would make a bet on it. That’s a fair question. However, the central mission of the LPO is to strengthen the manufacturing competitiveness of the US. In the EV space, that doesn’t necessarily mean providing more federal support to established automakers that are already racking up big EV sales numbers. Spreading manufacturing capacity among different businesses contributes to resiliency and helps to accelerate EV adoption, here in the US and abroad. “As one of a few American EV startups with light duty vehicles already on the road, Rivian’s Georgia facility will allow the company to reach production volumes that make its products more cost competitive and accelerate access to international markets,” the Energy Department notes. The Energy Department also anticipates a significant impact on transportation decarbonization. Once Project Horizon is up to speed, the vehicles rolling off the assembly line are expected to save 146 million gallons of petroleum every year. As a side note, the diversification strategy is also at work in California, where Governor Gavin Newsom is preparing to propose new legislation to relaunch a state EV tax credit if President-Elect Trump follows through on his threat to cancel the federal one. Tesla EVs would not qualify because it still holds more than 50% of the California market, while the new program is aimed at supporting up-and-coming manufacturers. There may be other reasons behind the exclusion as well. CleanTechnica editor Zachary Shahan ran through lots of other aspects of the tax credit proposal yesterday. If you can think of any aspects he missed, drop us a note in the comment thread. Bonus points for bringing up the LPO loan of $456 million that Tesla Motors received in 2010. The company fully repaid the loan ahead of schedule in 2013, and the rest is history. Follow me via LinkTree , or @tinamcasey on Threads, LinkedIn, and Bluesky. Image (cropped): The US electric vehicle startup Rivian is targeting 400,000 EVs per year at its new Project Horizon factory, taking shape in Georgia with a $6.57 billion assist from the Bush-era Loan Programs Office in the US Department of Energy (courtesy of US DOE). CleanTechnica's Comment Policy LinkedIn WhatsApp Facebook X Email Mastodon Reddit
How do you cut through government red tape? It’s not easy, as several Fort Worth startups can attest. Fort Worth-area entrepreneurs looking to do business or partner with the federal government made presentations to U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, on Nov. 25 at TechFW. They discussed the challenges they faced in working with and selling to the federal government. “I think it’s more important now that we talked with our entrepreneurs than ever before,” he said. “With Dickies leaving, I think it’s pretty clear that Fort Worth is going to be a town that is going to be very dependent on small businesses and entrepreneurs. We need to provide all the help we can to the people in that space to help power our economy and make sure we have a robust business culture here.” Jay Dixson, co-founder and CEO of RaidoHub, a startup that has developed a predictive software tool for airport managers to provide better customer service to travelers, has been working to connect with the Transportation Security Administration to help reduce passenger wait times at security checkpoints. RaidoHub has some contracts with airports such as JFK International Airport in New York and the Corpus Christi International Airport, but Dixson would like to work with the TSA to see how their technology could be used to improve a customer’s experience through security checkpoints. “That would be a great opportunity for us,” said Dixson. Get essential daily news for the Fort Worth area. Sign up for insightful, in-depth stories — completely free. Galaxy Unmanned Systems LLC, which provides unmanned air services for sports broadcasting and other applications, has had to pivot to military applications because of more restrictive regulations regarding unmanned systems. Jason White, co-founder and managing partner at Galaxy, said the company would like the government to do a better job of providing guidance for companies such as his as to what the rules are. The company has a big contract overseas where the rules are clearer for unmanned aircraft like Galaxy’s, White said. Veasey said he and representatives in Washington, D.C., can offer some help to Fort Worth entrepreneurs. “Sometimes we can point people in the right direction,” he said. “But sometimes, even for us, it can be difficult. We can help cut through some of the red tape and at least help get answers, even if they’re not favorable answers that people want.” Veasey encourages small businesses and entrepreneurs to stay in touch with members of Congress. “We all have case workers and legislative teams to help work on these types of issues,” he said. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get an immediate answer, he said. “Stay in touch. Build a relationship.” Other companies who gave presentations were: Articulate Labs, which provides technology that turns everyday movement into physical rehabilitation through movement-synchronous electrical muscle stimulation. Tremedics Medical Devices, a company that has developed stent technology to improve congenital heart disease in children. Ampcare, a company that provides treatment for swallowing disorders using electrical stimulation. Also making presentations to Veasey was Cowtown Angels, a group of approximately 45 area investors interested in early-stage companies, and the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program. The state-funded program offers free engineering and technology to small businesses and houses its North Texas site at TechFW, located off West Rosedale Street. Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here . Your support makes TWICE the impact today. As November draws to a close , time is running out to double your impact. Thanks to the generosity of the Nicholas Martin Jr. Family Foundation, every dollar you give will be matched—up to $15,000. Will you give today to help trusted, local reporting thrive in Fort Worth and Tarrant County? 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You can’t sell or syndicate our stories. You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @FortWorthReport on Facebook and @FortWorthReport on Twitter. by Bob Francis, Fort Worth Report November 26, 2024Wall Street top regulator to leave SEC when Trump takes office
Climate Action Collaborative: Giving thanks, not taking moreKhalil Rountree Jr. experienced a spine-tingling moment during his UFC 307 defeat to light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira. Khalil Rountree Jr.’s first bid at hoisting UFC gold got off to a great start against Alex Pereira at UFC 307. He landed heavy blows in the opening rounds, and at one point had the forward-focused Pereira fighting off his backfoot in the Octagon. After putting Pereira in significant danger in the opening minutes, Pereira poured it on as the fight progressed. He turned Rountree’s face into a horror-film-like appearance as he finished the title challenger in Round 4. Despite the vast pre-fight criticism surrounding the matchup, Rountree made himself into a household name with his performance at UFC 307. While Rountree’s timeline for a return is uncertain, he wants a former titleholder for his next fight in an attempt to get back into the title mix. The scars that Rountree suffered at UFC 307 will stick with him forever. Some question whether or not he’ll be able to return the same fighter in his next bookings after sustaining such severe damage against Pereira in the cage. As Pereira ramped up pressure on Rountree at UFC 307, the title challenger experienced a frightening moment as the light heavyweight champion pressed forward. READ MORE: ‘Khamzat would destroy you’... Darren Till takes aim at Bo Nickal over historic comments about Khamzat Chimaev Alex Pereira’s power caused Khalil Rountree Jr. blindness in UFC 307 scrap In a recent appearance on the JAXXON Podcast , Rountree revealed Pereira caused him to go blind in their UFC 307 instant classic. “I got hit, and boom — I knew I had gotten hit hard because I started to see my vision kind of blur a little bit,” Rountree shared. “But the second one that landed, the one that actually split my eye, in that moment I went blind. But f*** it, I’m going to keep going. “I didn’t see anything after that, just light,” Rountree continued. “I didn’t see shadows, I didn’t see anything. It was like if someone put up a frosted film. So I can’t see, I’m f***ing blind. But whatever, I’m not going to give up. The sensation, I didn’t feel anything, the adrenaline was too high, but I realized it was there. My eye was f***ed up, but I’ll deal with it later.” ( h/t MMA Mania ) Rountree didn’t go into detail on the visual damage he sustained against Pereira at UFC 307, but he’ll likely have to undergo an operation at some point to repair his compromised eye. READ MORE: Nate Diaz teases boxing return in chilling post just days after Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson Khalil Rountree Jr. underwent extensive surgery after Alex Pereira fight Before UFC 307, Rountree earned the title shot over top contenders like Magomed Ankalaev and Jamahal Hill by tallying five consecutive wins. He most recently finished former title challenger Anthony Smith last December, and was supposed to face Hill at UFC 303 before being suspended for obtaining a banned substance. Meanwhile, Pereira will likely return against Ankalaev in his next light heavyweight title defense in 2025. Ankalaev most recently finished Aleksandar Rakić at UFC 308 to earn the presumptive next title shot. Rountree’s line skip at UFC 307 turned into an instant classic fight with Pereira. But, the consequences of the damage he suffered against Pereira could potentially be long-term . Rountree’s admission describes the trials and tribulations fighters undergo when they battle inside the Octagon. As he prepares for his next fight camp, Rountree will remember his clash against Pereira and the momentarily period of blindness he suffered. READ MORE: Chael Sonnen makes stunning prediction about Dana White’s political future
Prolonged violence, internet shutdown, curfew affecting students in Manipur: Academics
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