Good piece. And not just copper, either. Lots of other high-end products in metals, chemicals, plastics that are being affected - industries leaving Germany over energy stupidity. Other countries on similar paths, too.
I have long had the impression that one of the least-mentioned delusions about green tech is the well-ensconced but rarely questioned notion that battery technology is subject to Moore’s Law. It isn’t. But we have governments shutting down reliable electricity sources to replace them with intermittent sources, the long term viability of which depends on storage batteries that have not been invented yet. It’s just assumed that battery storage will double in efficiency every 28 months like computer chips. This may well turn out to have been the most presumptuous assumption of all time.
Yes! The belief all technologies will advance exponentially is one of the modern myths that’s easy to sell but dangerous to rely on. Betting on technology that doesn’t yet exist is like jumping out of a plane, trusting you’ll sew a parachute on the way down.
Hence we get things like the government ‘investing’ eleventy-six bazillion dollars into building battery plants for EVs that will never be built because the EV manufacturers are going bankrupt, and, even worse, the materials the plants will supposedly use to make those batteries are supposed to come from deposits of strategic minerals that are still decades from production.
It's sad to see a great country like Germany on a self-destructive path. I think, as you mentioned, some German industries have and will relocate to the US, helping the U.S. to re-industrialize, as other U.S. industries had moved to China and won't come back.
While that may isolate some German companies that can afford to move, it will hurt others and, most importantly, the German people who will lose many good-paying jobs.
The loss of jobs only begins with the obvious companies, such as those mentioned in the article (Aurubis and Wieland). These firms source materials like electronic components and machinery from other German and European firms, which in turn affects even more jobs. The government's myopic view that ignores 2nd, 3rd… order effects is startling.
Good piece. And not just copper, either. Lots of other high-end products in metals, chemicals, plastics that are being affected - industries leaving Germany over energy stupidity. Other countries on similar paths, too.
The shortsightedness of these policies is truly staggering.
I have long had the impression that one of the least-mentioned delusions about green tech is the well-ensconced but rarely questioned notion that battery technology is subject to Moore’s Law. It isn’t. But we have governments shutting down reliable electricity sources to replace them with intermittent sources, the long term viability of which depends on storage batteries that have not been invented yet. It’s just assumed that battery storage will double in efficiency every 28 months like computer chips. This may well turn out to have been the most presumptuous assumption of all time.
Yes! The belief all technologies will advance exponentially is one of the modern myths that’s easy to sell but dangerous to rely on. Betting on technology that doesn’t yet exist is like jumping out of a plane, trusting you’ll sew a parachute on the way down.
Hence we get things like the government ‘investing’ eleventy-six bazillion dollars into building battery plants for EVs that will never be built because the EV manufacturers are going bankrupt, and, even worse, the materials the plants will supposedly use to make those batteries are supposed to come from deposits of strategic minerals that are still decades from production.
Central planning, in any form, inevitably results in inefficiency and waste.
I’ve always wondered, what’s the difference between central planning and central banking?
Great article.
It's sad to see a great country like Germany on a self-destructive path. I think, as you mentioned, some German industries have and will relocate to the US, helping the U.S. to re-industrialize, as other U.S. industries had moved to China and won't come back.
While that may isolate some German companies that can afford to move, it will hurt others and, most importantly, the German people who will lose many good-paying jobs.
Thank you!
The loss of jobs only begins with the obvious companies, such as those mentioned in the article (Aurubis and Wieland). These firms source materials like electronic components and machinery from other German and European firms, which in turn affects even more jobs. The government's myopic view that ignores 2nd, 3rd… order effects is startling.