How weapons become overoptimized to the point they become brittle
Here is Roland McKean, one of the founders of the DoD’s Planning-Programming-Budgeting system, who later in the 1960s saw the errors of what he helped […]
Roland McKean
Top researchers spend 50% of their time writing grants, how to fix it, and what it means for DoD
Nearly all academic researchers in the sciences rely on outside grants in order to pay salaries, buy their equipment, and run their experiments. Those grants […]
How DoD policy-making became over-simplified
So the program budget may become, not an information system, but an approved five-year plan that serves as an instrument of control. This arrangement can […]
Rigidity is a consequence of central planning
With centralization, one set of views plays a greater role in decision-making, and dissenting views play lesser roles. In other words, there are fewer checks […]
The issue of centralized control in defense budgeting
In assessing change many observers are inclined to stress the more dramatic shifts in policy or even the stated goals of policy. They are perhaps […]