1: It lubricates the econonomy. And lowering the value of the US dollar means the US effectively turns a profit on every bond it issues.
2: You'd be surprised. Rural electrification and stability of grid supply remain important for local economic stability. Especially in the decentralised power grids renewables will create.
3: Bribery works. Everyone does it in some way
4: This. So much this. I know how it works over here because I've been in it for a state owned company. A US supplier massively lowballed everyone and tagged each and every specification we asked for - and only each and every specification. Under American Government Spending rules, we'd have had to buy from them - after getting approval all the way up the chain to ensure no government money is being frivolously wasted. Under our spending rules, we were able to use our discretion, look for hidden gotcha's in the contract they offered and decide that what they were offering with stick us with dozens of expensive issues down the road. We ended up splitting the contract - overspending slightly on our budget but getting a much better product with less overheads going forward into the futre
At the end of the year, the statutory company I worked for returned a profit to the exchequer and exceeded its reliability and quality targets.
On the other hand, it's well known that this is exactly how the Anglo debacle happened. It's easier to ask for a billion 12 times, than it is to ask for 10 billion straight up.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
2: You'd be surprised. Rural electrification and stability of grid supply remain important for local economic stability. Especially in the decentralised power grids renewables will create.
3: Bribery works. Everyone does it in some way
4: This. So much this. I know how it works over here because I've been in it for a state owned company. A US supplier massively lowballed everyone and tagged each and every specification we asked for - and only each and every specification. Under American Government Spending rules, we'd have had to buy from them - after getting approval all the way up the chain to ensure no government money is being frivolously wasted. Under our spending rules, we were able to use our discretion, look for hidden gotcha's in the contract they offered and decide that what they were offering with stick us with dozens of expensive issues down the road. We ended up splitting the contract - overspending slightly on our budget but getting a much better product with less overheads going forward into the futre
At the end of the year, the statutory company I worked for returned a profit to the exchequer and exceeded its reliability and quality targets.
On the other hand, it's well known that this is exactly how the Anglo debacle happened. It's easier to ask for a billion 12 times, than it is to ask for 10 billion straight up.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?