Comment by Schlagbohrer
1 day ago
It's this. Wall Street won't allow american companies to make long term decisions and long term planning that cost money in the short term, because they want all that money immediately now. Like, right now now. If an executive promised they could deliver big profits in 5 years by spending the next two investing their profits, Wall Street would fire them and put in someone who will happily spend all the profit (plus debt) to do stock buybacks and dividend disbursals.
The stock market works that way, it's true.
But what about SpaceX, Blue Origin... there are also counter examples that show it is possible for investors to wait out the big profits.
those are not run by Wall Street. they are run by 2 billionaires who care about something other than near-term profit (legacy, ambition, etc).
That's exactly my point, those are run by private equity, investors willing to take the risks and wait the big payday out.
I don't believe either of those two companies have ever been profitable. (I'm sure Musk has some accounting tricks to make it look that way, though.)
Indeed, if these are loss making operations, who puts the capital for those rockets to get off the ground? and why are they putting their capital in this when instead they could have a "nice ETF bringing 10% yearly"?
Both those companies only can exist because of massive amounts of corporate welfare. What exactly are you trying to argue here? That the government should give private capital more of the people's money while the country suffers from lack of healthcare, childcare, education, and housing?
What's the point of this? Honestly?
The point I'm trying to make is that there are also investors that are long on an investment and willing take losses for a long time before the big pay off materialises, or not. But that's private equity investment rather than stock market logic. Capitalism can also be about the mid-long term profits, given the proper opportunity.
Musk did not go it alone in the SpaceX venture, he obviously had other investors joining in on the risks and potential losses.
As for the government giving private capital public funds, no, that's obviously not what i'm arguing for, even though that's pretty much how the US has been running since WW2. The military industrial complex did not rise up as a normal capitalistic venture.
I am as appalled as anyone by the divestments in healthcare, education and such in the US, but the moral underpinnings and fundaments of the United States and its history, the puritanical element in particular, lead me to think that this is going to remain a long term issue in this country.
America is the greatest country on earth because someone owns 50 billion dollars.