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Burton Folsom Jr.’s Lecture

Professor Burton Folsom Jr. gave a great speech of the history of subsidies and the different types of entrepreneurs in the United States. Market entrepreneurs such as Vanderbilt with the steamboat, and the Wright brothers with the airplane had fantastic business plans that turned out to be very profitable. On the other hand, Edward Collins with the subsidized steamboat, and Samuel Langley with the subsidized airplane just ended up in failure after costing the government millions of dollars.

What Do His Examples Show?

This shows that there has to be a drive for people to make a successful business. Free government handouts when it comes to these examples just ended up in lots of hard-earned money down the drain. If the government had not given out subsides, the United States would have saved millions of dollars and still ended up with what they wanted in the end.

Why Do We Still Use Subsides?

We should not use subsides because they only really came about because the government could not admit when they were wrong. Instead, they dumped more money into a failing businesses. The government seemed to hope that every time they would give out another subside that this would be the time that it worked, but it did not with the examples Burton gave. The market entrepreneurs were always the ones that came out on top.

What Could The US Do Instead?

If the United States still wants something to the fact of subsides to make sure our technology and other market productions stay up to date with the rest of the world, I think we could use the government money, but in a different way. Instead of just giving it to one person, the government could make it more of a competition. Entrepreneurs could come up with a business plan and a bid of how much they could do it for and present it. The government could look for the best option and the lowest price to get the best deal. It could be a contract that had to be renewed on a yearly basis so if the company that did it last year was not up to par, the government could select a different one for this year. That would still make it a competitive market while letting the government boost the economy at the same time. This could be a win-win situation for both entrepreneurs and the United States. Overall, this week’s topic has given me a new perspective on subsides, and the different types of entrepreneurship.