Thomas Friedman is a wanker.

[edhopper]

In Today's NY Times column Friedman wants us to let the Auto Industry die and instead give the money to "Venture Capitalist".
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/opinion/22friedman.html?ref=opinion

He says:
"You want to spend $20 billion of taxpayer money creating jobs? Fine. Call up the top 20 venture capital firms in America, which are short of cash today because their partners — university endowments and pension funds — are tapped out, and make them this offer: The U.S. Treasury will give you each up to $1 billion to fund the best venture capital ideas that have come your way. If they go bust, we all lose. If any of them turns out to be the next Microsoft or Intel, taxpayers will give you 20 percent of the investors’ upside and keep 80 percent for themselves."

First Tom, Microsoft did not invent anything, Gates bought the DOS code for pennies and then got a sweetheart deal with IBM with the help of his mom, an IBM employee.
Intel exist because NASA needed the silicon chip for the Moon landing (a powerful very lightweight computer was essential).

Second Tom, are these the same VC guys who threw all that money at the Dot Com startups in the 90s? How did that all work out.

So let's not save a viable industry that employees millions. That though they need to be retrenched and retooled are still a major part of the American Economy and instead throw billions into untested pipe dreams.

Remember, he's not talking about R&D, but pure speculative investing.

[Wetzelbill]

1. It's one of those ideas that sounds edgy, innovative and cool

But has about all the depth of a kiddie pool. That's how these status quo guys are, they think they're so smart all the time, they know nothing about the common man.

[MattBaggins]

5. About those guys not caring about you.

It is worse then that. They look down on you vis a vis Santelli calling all of us "those who can only drink the water". They have become so high on their sense of entitlement that they actually believe we should be shut out of the conversation. They view most of America as children who should be ignored as an insignificant part of society.

He knows about the common man. He just believes you are contemptible.

[gratuitous]

2. There's a reason it's called "venture" capital

I worked at a firm that did some accountant malpractice defense work in the late 1980s as the tax shelter of limited partnerships was falling apart but good. So many of the claimants who lost money, upon closer inspection, turned out to not quite grasp the nature of "venture" capital. The tax advantages for their investments made a lot of sense, but only if they were investing money they could afford to lose. Like a lot of venture capital investments, the chances of success were iffy, and to qualify to invest, an investor had to meet certain personal wealth thresholds.

So many of the claimants lied on their applications, it was relatively easy to get the accountants our firm was defending off the hook because so many of the claimants didn't meet the wealth threshold. Venture capital is invested in chancy schemes because the upside is tremendous, but success is by no means guaranteed. It's a tool and a toy for overrich folks who have more money than they know what to do with. When an investment works out, it's terrific. Maybe you helped fund a new Microsoft. But far more often, investors are sinking money into business models that turn out to be the next perpetual motion machine.

[baldguy]

3. Venture capitalists ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

They shun long-term investment in favor of sort-term profit at literally all costs - human especially.

[biscotti]

4. Most of what Friedman writes.......

I see as him as a giant bag of pumped up hot air.

[msongs]

6. let the GM workforce work for Tesla - get rid of GM management

GM makes overpriced cars stuck on 1800's technology that is obsolete. GM = gross mismanagement. For all the taxpayer money going to GM the feds could just buy all the stock and own the company.

Bailouts for more than market value are scams.

Msongs

[NNN0LHI]

7. He would really like to have the money go to his wifes shopping malls which are almost worthless now

Bet on that.

This is one of the idiots who helped get us into this mess.

Don

[Iwillnevergiveup]

8. The cat is more and more out of the bag on Tom

If you read the comments under his pieces, many run very, very negative and call him out on his whacky ideas. Now, who's got that great comic strip with the flying mustache?

[TWiley]

9. remember his "groundbreaking report" on "Why do they hate us?"

He showed his true colors in that episode. He is a republican activist through and through.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. The progenitor of "The Friedman Unit"...

Married into a huge fortune. He and his wife lost big in this economy, although they won't be missing any meals or have to change their lifestyle in any perceptible fashion. Tommy wants another bubble economy so they can make back what they lost, and he wants to help some of his buds in the bargain.