Government subsidies to US manufacturing: Good or bad?

Interesting story about the recovery of American manufacturing.

www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/business/subsidies-aid-rebirth-in-us-manufacturing.html?_r=1&hp

 

There are a lot of good, solid arguments against this, from helping spike inflation to setting up a harmful subsidy "arms race" with other countries. But given the billions of government money already thrown each year at the oil and gas industry, what the heck...

 

If government can build baseball and football stadiums, they might as well go all-in.

 

You've got it backward. Government should be all out of the stadium business.

 

Not that it's a great argument, but I can't think of another country - that has any kind of notable manufacturing sector - that doesn't subsidize it in some large or small way.

 

Oh, I agree.

I just find it insane that the One Percent that gripes so much about their taxes doesn't see a problem with devoting taxpayer dollars towards subsidizing a private entertainment business.

 

Both.

It's frequently good and frequently wasteful.