Making Magnets. Is the USA Socialist ? Or is it Crony Capitalist ?
I ask because another story (from last year) has broken re Don Jr. I saw the story on a CNN vid thing that I can't link, and because of where I am I can't link a site with the whole story, so here is a patchwork of links about it.
Factually, from last December:
Did Trump JR get a loan from the US gov? (factually.co)
"Yes — a small rare‑earths startup called Vulcan Elements secured a conditional $620 million loan from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital as part of a larger $1.4 billion package; Vulcan had taken investment from 1789 Capital, a fund that lists Donald Trump Jr. as a partner, about three months before the loan was announced [. Pentagon and company spokespeople say Trump Jr. did not participate in the loan negotiations; critics say the timing creates an appearance of conflict of interest " (edited to remove citation links)
This from the company website. I can't see a date:
"Vulcan Elements Announces $1.4 Billion Partnership with the United States Government and Selects Benson, North Carolina, for the Largest Magnet Facility in the World Outside China"
Vulcan Elements - Rare Earth Magnets for a Resilient Future
This confuses me. Because the US is supposed to be the king of free market capitalism. Yet time and time again, we see the Government putting massive injections of public cash into private business. Often when there is a crony connection.
I get it that the US guv want's magnets as a strategic thing. And I would say in that case the US guv should build it's own plants etc to do so. But owning the means of production would be socialism.And they are anti socialism.
So instead they give massive cash injections to private companies.
Also from the company website : "PARTNERING WITH COMPANIES LOCATED WITHIN THE U.S. AND ALLIED COUNTRIES
This includes countries like the UK, Australia, and Japan."
No EU mentioned. I suspect that is because the EU has strong rules re state subsidised industry.
I find this very hypocritical. The US broadcast to the world that it is against nationalised industry. THATS SOCIALISM. But they do it all the time.
And they do it by the way, while saying private investors need massive tax breaks so they have money to invest. But for some reason these private investors won't invest in this magnet company. Government to the rescue.
Oh, and checking the revenue of this company using dodgy and unreliable market sites, it was founded in 2023, and as of last year it had 1-10 employees. (Wont link that site cos generic)
And checking for US magnet manufacturers, that company is nowhere. There are loads of long established companies making magnets, many of them making the exact same rare earth magnets. And here is the thing with that. Magnets are totally well understood. There is no undiscovered magic formula that doubles their strength... because physics.