The worst aspect of central planning is not just that it misallocates capital, but that it actively destroys it. Centrally planned economies, from the Soviet Union on down, remain littered to this day with stranded assets existing in a largely unrecoverable state. EV subsidies are doing the same thing by wrecking the profitability of companies trying to cash in on such schemes.
The energy unit of Panasonic Holdings missed its operating profit guidance for the past business year due to lower electric vehicle (EV) battery production in Japan and a fall in sales of consumer products, the company said on Thursday.
Operating income for the key segment, which makes batteries for Tesla and other automakers, totaled ¥88.8 billion ($570.18 million) in the year that ended in March, missing its own ¥113 billion forecast, Panasonic said.
Scientists tracked wood volume in 10 different tree groups from 1997 to 2017, finding that all except aspen-birch grew larger. Over that same period, carbon dioxide levels went from 363 parts per million to 405 parts per million, owing largely to the burning of fossil fuels. More abundant CO2 accelerates photosynthesis, causing plants to grow faster, a phenomenon known as “carbon fertilization.” The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.