isn't involution just the name they give when something akin to Econ 101 "perfect competition" takes hold, when price is competed down to variable cost? 1/

Yes, this means fixed costs may not be recoverable absent some form of subsidy. Yes, it's uncomfortable for businesses. But it's not at all clear it's a problem overall. 2/

Subsidy is in fact an option to keep industry sustainable. It's not at all clear that the tax burden of subsidy is worse than the Western approach of creating + protecting sources of market power to help firms cover fixed costs. There is no obvious limiting principle to this "market-power" tax. /fin