Protectionism in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act Harms Consumers and Domestic Industries | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Brian Balfour.

    My latest column published by the American Institute for Economic Research exposes how a provision in Pres. Biden's misnamed Inflation Reduction Act will harm the economy and potentially make inflation worse.

    To qualify for the act's tax credit of up to $7,500 on the purchase of an electric vehicle (EV), the vehicle's battery must be made of minerals and components mostly extracted and produced in America, or otherwise in a country with which the U.S. has an explicit free trade agreement. This provision excludes the output of many countries, including those in Europe, which can mine and produce the needed minerals and components at lower costs than American companies can. ...

    Inefficient companies are protected from competition by political favoritism, at the expense of consumers and other domestic companies handicapped by government interference. An economy hampered by protectionism is less efficient, and the increased scarcity due to diminished output causes prices to be higher than they otherwise would be. ...

    Moreover, the most likely response from EV sellers will be to raise their prices in response to the tax credit offered to their customers. Say a dealer discovers that a customer is willing to pay $50,000 for an EV. Knowing the customer is eligible for a credit of $7,500, the dealer will raise the price to $57,500.

    The EV dealers and manufacturers will get to pocket the extra $7,500, in a classic example of political power-dynamics in which the party in charge rewards their donor class through payouts at the public's expense.

poll#166

With the Midterm Elections less than one week away: What do you consider the top issues that you will be voting on to be corrected by your better representation?

  Education

  Crime

  Big Government getting Bigger

  Biden /Democrat controlled Spike in Energy Cost

  Inflation created by Legislation of Majority in Power

  Gender Reassignment

  Corrupted Bureaucratic /Service (DOJ, FBI, etc.) Institutions

  Abortion

  Discredited Legacy Media

  Ending the Corruption of Dishonest Politicians

  Corruptive Influence of Social Media

  Wide Open Southern Border

439 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?