Intel rattles the tin for another €5B in subsidies to build German fab Intel is said to be asking for an additional €4-5 billion euros in subsidies to build a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Germany, on top of the €6.8 billion ($7.3 billion) already agreed. The chip giant announced early last year that it had selected a site at Magdeburg in eastern Germany to build a new mega-fab after …
I am staggered at all these private companies that want money to build the very things they need, or to bail them out when it all goes a bit wrong and have never provisioned or planned for the future. If I was the German gvt, I would be demanding a shit load of shares so I can get some decent divi's and expect a return at some stage in the future.
Why would Intel agree to that?
The whole point is that it is cheaper for Intel to build in other countries, if Germany wants the fabs to be in Germany then it need to pay Intel to cover the extra expenses that Intel will incur by building in Germany.
There's no group quite like American corporations when it comes to asking for public money and then using every trick in the book to avoid paying taxes on the profits derived from the 'investment'.
As for shares, these cash values are a little over 5% of Intel market cap so maybe a 5% shareholding seems equitable - don't hold your breath!
Intel full-year 2022 revenue : $63.1 billion.
You're going to have a hell of a job convincing me that they need more money to generate revenue.
but I will say it again. The amount of bribes paid to companies to manufacture in a specific country will pale into insignificance compared to the bribe needed to make them stay there.
But governments are so full of themselves (using phrases such as "too big to fail" or "look how important we are, we can spend loads of taxpayers money") that they won't learn will they, because there is bound to be a bung in it for whoever makes the decision... paid for by using part of the taxpayers "economic incentive" of course...
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Governments are operating by nationalist rules now. That's expensive. Replicating Taiwan in the US before it pivots to China. Replicating Uncle Sam in Europe for when the US cuts the world in two.
Chipmakers should work out how much they need for a free ride, double it and add a zero. If politicians are going to be idiots with public money, that's their business. Let them wreck global trade and the global economy. Bag enough of a subsidy and you can buy your own island, one not run by clowns.
"Let them wreck global trade and the global economy. Bag enough of a subsidy and you can buy your own island ..."
Sure, but can you keep it? Maybe you can build a private navy to fend off the pirates, but then your little island nation has to worry about a coup by the vice admiral. Making money is one thing, but for spending it even criminals depend on stable governments. Well, except maybe the drug cartels, when they have been sampling the product too often.
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