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28 sats \ 2 replies \ @optimism 16 Apr \ parent \ on: Getting manufacturing back econ
Every contract I've ever closed with any branch of the US govt has been Buy America based. That's partially why these procurements are so costly. (This is the real reason why Boeing sells the USAF $20k soap dispensers, because the custom made-in-USA molds alone cost $200k a pop)
I've always thought that this was a defendable position for the USG: spend the public's money to the public's benefit, create jobs.
None of this prevents one from innovating tho. Remember how one cannot reuse rockets? But once you can, you suddenly find yourself decades ahead of your frenemies as a space power. Is it being used? Not that I know of, but I'm sure Elon would be game.
This is why I think that visionaries are needed more than used car salesmen, especially in politics. The art of not giving 2 fucks about "the deal".
They'd have to be more serious about what "Buy American" means, though. My understanding is that a very large share of the inputs can be foreign sourced and still meet the criteria.
Obviously, making that stricter would be much more expensive, but potentially it could be offset by regulatory and tax changes.