There is a real debate going on whether the German government should provide Lilium – a 9-year-old, publicly-listed money loosing eVTOL company, without a single successful realistic test-flight – a €150M loan. (It decided not to, good.)
The real issue I see is that public funding socializes risk and losses, forcing taxpayers—like my parents (!!)—to cover the bets of government employees who lack skin in the game, all under the guise of ‘deep tech’ and ‘innovation.’
Worse, I don’t want German taxpayers’ money supporting a so-called ‘German’ company headquartered in the Netherlands and listed in the USA.
IF a company seeks public loans, all its shareholders and executives should be personally liable for the full amount (and what they promise)—no exceptions. Only then can we can talk about a loan from tax-payers.
Furthermore, it seems that private and institutional investors are not willing to provide any more funding to achieve the alleged test flights in 2025. If private investors are not willing to put any more money into the company – why should the tax payer?
What should Germany do? Lower taxes. Deregulate. But don’t become a VC.
Leave a Reply