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> SpaceX has made it to MI complex status, and US gov will easily bail them out should worst come. immaterial: "the worst" here is elon destroying the engineer
by funac 2y ago
> SpaceX has made it to MI complex status, and US gov will easily bail them out should worst come.
immaterial: "the worst" here is elon destroying the engineering culture & with it their ability to keep improving on what they've done so far. not going bankrupt (by way of a bailout or otherwise) is a necessary condition for avoiding the worst (boeing syndrome), but it's not sufficient
fedgov can pour money into the military industrial complex, but it can't do a whole lot more, and that only goes so far
- mjhay 2y agoBoeing destroyed its engineering culture and it isn't going anywhere.
- bunderbunder 2y agoSuppose for the sake of argument I managed to secure some sort of annuity that pays just enough to subsist on, starting now. Knowing that I'm guaranteed enough income to stay minimally solvent does not mean I have no reason to care about losing additional income streams that enable me to have things like vacations and dinners at nice restaurants and digital watches. Similarly, the relative security of the ~1/3 of Boeing's revenue that comes from government contracts is probably small consolation to its shareholders. They do that business more-or-less at cost; essentially 100% of their profits come from other sources.
- htrp 2y ago>They do that business more-or-less at cost; Aren't all govt contracts cost plus?
- lesuorac 2y agoDevelopmental contracts sure. Buying COTS products; probably not.
- bunderbunder 2y agoAlso, the "plus" part covers both overhead and profit. So, depending on what your overhead situation looks like, profit can still be minimal or non-positive.
- lesuorac 2y agoSure but the "plus" part is capped [1] for cost+plus. If you're buying AWS compute through GSA I bet the rate is more than AWS's costs + 10/15%. Or if you purchase say post-it notes from Staples; I bet they're going to be way more than the cost of paper+glue*1.15. [1]: https://www.acquisition.gov/far/15.404-4#FAR_15_404_4__d941e98 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/15.404-4#FAR_15_404_4__d941e...