Friday, October 12, 2012

Chinese billionaire rescues failed Massachusetts battery maker

A123 Systems of Massachusetts, has laid off workers, has has lost a reported $857 million, received a $241.1-million grant from the Obama administration is now being rescued.

By a Chinese billionaire. Wanxiang Group, a Chinese firm run by Chinese billionaire Lu Guanqiu.





"They were wrong. The problem is that policymakers decided to be in the business of picking economic winners and losers and unfortunately they've picked the losers far too often. It’s money that we’ll never get back. It was grant money so there were not a lot of strings attached to it. It failed because there's not enough demand and also because there are companies outside of the U.S. – some in China -- where they're able to produce the equipment for cheaper. Representatives should not be in this business of trying to determine what the next new thing is in terms of technology. The free market does it much better." --- Jarrett Skorup, a research associate with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy