As I write this, I have actually finished reading “The Myth of the Robber Barons” but I have a lot of quotes built up that I think deserve to be shared.

When I read this quote, I could not help but think of the recent tariffs imposed on Chinese made solar panels.  This was done supposedly to help protect domestic solar panel producers against “dumping” done by Chinese companies that receive a large amount of support from their government.

First the quote:

One of the traditional arguments cited by some businessmen, especially the political entrepreneurs [ed: those who court government favor as opposed to relying on innovation to succeed], is that a tariff or a subsidy given to a new industry will help the industry survive and eventually flourish against foreign competition.  What really happened, though, is that, when Collins and Cunard [ed: steamship company operators in the 19th century] got subsidies from their governments, they did not become efficient steamboat operators; instead, they became lavish wastrels and soon came back asking for larger subsidies, which they then used to compete against more efficient rivals.

Sort of reminds me of any number of industries in the United States today.

So what was the result of the new tariff on Chinese produced solar panels?  Not quite what the government was hoping for I am sure.  As I mentioned in another post, at least hundreds of jobs have been lost in the US polysilicon industry, which supplies about 25% of the world’s polysilicon which is used to make solar panels, as the Chinese have placed tariffs on importing this material from the United States.