The Hidden Costs of Decapitalizing the Global System- Chinese Solar Panel example

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China has successfully monopolized many industries, including the solar industry, by leveraging dirty coal slave labor and poor pollution controls to make artificially cheap solar panels.
Chinese companies flooded the world with these panels, leading to the loss of the solar supply chain in the West.
China now controls 95%+ of the key steps in the solar supply chain.
Decapilization, or disregarding social costs, is a major factor in China's dominance in the solar industry.
A solar industry in the US is possible but would cost more due to labor and other factors, and would require tighter environmental controls.
Competing with Chinese companies on price is difficult when they avoid addressing pollution costs.
Companies that claim to care about the environment often prioritize cheaper prices over sustainability.
This is the reality experienced by professionals in many industries.

On this episode, Nate is joined by Doomberg - the anonymous energy/finance analyst team (visually presenting as a talking chicken icon) who uses an energy lens to analyze global trends in the economy, with so far some remarkable accuracy. In this wide ranging discussion, Doomberg and Nate cover the interactions between geopolitics, debt, climate policy, and - of course - energy. How have the narratives created around different types of energy - from renewables to nuclear - affected current policy making around the world? Will the increasingly precarious state of the global debt and monetary system shift the geopolitical landscape? How have increasing global tensions combined with a rise in green energy policy affected nations’ desire for energy security - and what does it mean for future policy as we enter a period of decreasing energy availability?

About Doomberg

In May of 2021, Doomberg was started by a team of professionals experienced in heavy industry, private equity, and the hard sciences to highlight the fundamentals missing from many economic and policy decisions, and it quickly grew to be one of the most widely read finance newsletters on Substack. Doomberg covers topics from energy, finance, to the economy at large, in an attempt to improve society's thinking and clarity to complex problems.

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https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/83-doomberg