What does the 20-year delivery on the AUKUS deal say about US power?
Here’s one perhaps relevant portion of an incredibly interesting discussion between Balaji Srinivasan and Tim Ferriss. Balaji remarks that the AUKUS deal in which the […]
cost disease
Measuring the impact of unexpected inflation on DoD budgets, and other economic issues
Talking with Eric Torenberg, Noah Smith says “The Fed will not stick to any rules that it officially adopts.” (minute 32) “The Fed will always exercise […]
DoD’s fixation on cost stifles its ability to innovate
Accounting scholars Baruch Lev and Feng Gu found that the value of tangible assets and earnings explained more than 80% of companies’ value when entering […]
Healthcare analogies for defense acquisition
I think we have to remember we have good people in healthcare. We are all attracted to the healthcare profession out of a sense of […]
Some data on how fast costs are rising for the US Air Force
Last year I discussed whether defense acquisition was a cost disease sector, just like healthcare, education, and some areas of construction. I evaluated three methods […]
Cost escalation for defense labor and material — can it continue to grow so fast?
When we talk about procurement or support costs in the 2040 decade, obviously that’s a long way from now. Any sort of projection of a […]
DOD pays a 3,233% overhead rate, but was it a bad deal?
The U.S. Air Force, faced with an aging aircraft fleet, is turning to 3D printing to dramatically cut down the time and cost of manufacturing […]
Podcast: Todd Harrison on the military space reorg. and everything else
Todd Harrison joined me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to discuss a wide range of issues, including how the reorganization of defense space forces is […]
DOD scandal of the week: taking candy from a baby
A review of a sample of parts TransDigm Group sold the military revealed the company made excess profit ranging from 17% to 4,451% on 46 of 47 […]
Opportunity cost of the Air Force’s inventory
The U.S. must balance current exigencies with future requirements. Any single-focus approach bears a huge opportunity cost… Operating the smallest, oldest, and least ready […]
Why is construction so costly in the US?
The best industry practice, outlined by Madrid Metro’s Manuel Melis Maynar, is to award contracts by a combination of cost, construction speed, and a technical score […]
Clearing obstacles to defense budget cuts
Several weeks ago I discussed various strategies for cutting $1 trillion from defense spending over ten years. In this post, I want to address the […]
Win-win: Liberalism strengthens the military while reducing aggression
A reader emailed be the following question: If the ultimate end-product of the military is death/destruction, is it a good thing to try to make […]
Defense Acquisition as a Cost Disease Sector: What’s the Evidence?
At any given time, you will have sectors where demand is growing faster than productivity (think of health care and education) and other sectors where […]