How Do We rationalize the Status Quo?

A recent article by Tegan Hill in the Globe and Mail gave me pause to contemplate what we are facing in our political rationale to overcome the logic of so-called “misallocation of resources”. He claims that despite politicians of every stripe support for taxpayer handouts, these will do little if anything to successfully develop the EV industry, even considering the funding to Volkswagen and Stellantis to create jobs, expand electric-vehicle industry expansion in Canada or compete with the United States under their Inflation Reduction Act which includes billions in handouts.

As an economist, Tegan Hill overlooks the consequences that climate change has and will continue to impose on society as a result of our ignoring its significance and impact. The metric which Tegan Hill suggests is based on private enterprises’ misallocation of capital resulting in poorer sales, employee layoffs and firm’s necessity to deliver goods and services in demand in order to survive. This economic model serves private enterprise well in a free enterprise society however, this model has proven totally inadequate when the political reality is faced with catastrophic consequences, the best example being the response to aggression in World-War 2.

So, for those who continue to accept the rhetoric that taxpayer handouts will do little, if anything is the direct result of our persistence to pursue economic prosperity at all costs, when the climate will not wait for us to discover its impact on global well-being, until it is too late. EV’s are just one example of the beginning of a science-based resolve to enable our future generations’ ability to survive and prosper.