Comment by Retric
6 months ago
> empirically, removing the exemption discourages R&D.
Not clearing a road means fewer people use it, but you not going out with a shovel to clear a public roads isn’t you discouraging their use nor is you canceling your plans to clear said roads.
Having zero subsidies is the default situation.
It didn’t create a level playing field, it just discouraged a very specific type of R&D while ignoring all others. All other types of employee salaries follow certain rules and some can optionally follow R&D rules. Software is now the only one required to follow 5 year R&D amortization so the deck is now stacked against software.
Software is an asset. If you pay people to build a building you don’t get to deduct their salaries as an operating expense.
The default situation is whatever was yesterday. I’d be astonished to learn that even a single significant civilization functioned without subsidies or patronage of priorities held by a society’s leaders.
> The default situation is whatever was yesterday.
If Amazon delivered you a TV yesterday that doesn’t suddenly become the default where you can expect another one today and every day after that.
The US government does a new budget every year, making every year a new ballgame.
No but if a TV was in my house yesterday I’d bet that it’ll be there today.
And my point about there being no natural state of subsidies is more important.
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