100% it’s politics, it’s self-interest. The reason why we don’t have Musk’s Alien Dreadnought factories throughout the US is related to the reason Elizabeth I rejected weaving machines; the people who have power will not gain enough from it and may even lose. Elizabeth I feared the consequences of creative disruption on her constituents, and the knock on effect that might have had to her tenuous grip on power. Today in the US we see silly policies that are pushed to make a few people rich at the expense of society as a whole. The more we are able to dismantle monopolies, and weaken the capability of incumbent industries to skew legislation in their own favor, the more society will move forward.
Who would gain? Politicians try really hard to pull in facilities. Look at the GLobalFoundries spending debacle in NY. Or the Panasonic/Tesla battery facility in NV at, what 2m in grants per employee. Or Foxxcon in WI.
These facilities aren't that economically beneficial. Capital investors aren't, as PMA implies, stupid: they don't build because there isn't much money in it.
Politicians bend over backwards all the time. Massive subsidies are the problem, not lack of interest.
The reason people go elsewhere is to play regulatory arbitrage. To avoid the inspections, the pollution rules, and the long term environmental costs. The Bay area is filled with Superfund sites. Same for the Puget Sound, Boston Harbor, and the Hudson. No one should eat too many fish...because worlrdwide Mercury levels are high.
