Post AThG6dTL3XE85qsDFw by johnquiggin@mstdn.social
(DIR) More posts by johnquiggin@mstdn.social
(DIR) Post #AThG6dTL3XE85qsDFw by johnquiggin@mstdn.social
2023-03-17T05:26:45Z
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https://theconversation.com/18-million-a-job-the-aukus-subs-plan-will-cost-australia-way-more-than-that-202026 $18 million a job? The AUKUS subs plan will cost Australia way more than that
(DIR) Post #AThKLaT0uYvMvv6efo by wall0159@aus.social
2023-03-17T06:14:13Z
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@johnquiggin thanks for writing this. I've heard nothing in the media about how technology is likely to render the subs obsolete before they're made and it's good to hear someone saying it. AUVs are developing to quickly, and will be so much cheaper, that I wonder if *any* human operated submarines will be manufactured (or wanted) in the 2030s
(DIR) Post #ATjgEKFxN0ZrwBrTGa by ckent@urbanists.social
2023-03-18T09:28:52Z
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@johnquiggin That’s a most excellent edition of #billiondollarnews — everybody let’s guess the cost per job! How many millions?
(DIR) Post #ATkVvHPMvlKRDbVGsq by ckent@urbanists.social
2023-03-18T09:32:32Z
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@wall0159 @johnquiggin And — just because I have a vindictive streak paired with a fascination of the multiverse — let’s rekindle discussion of the LAST poor announcement and probe the PREVIOUS alternative of buying French nuclear subs, off the (very heavy) shelf, for $3b eachBecause, and I love to tell people this, they started delivering them 3 years agoYou know, it’s the kind of cold fact that a Navy General would absolutely have an opinion on
(DIR) Post #ATkVvI2iZSnvBduhDU by ckent@urbanists.social
2023-03-18T09:36:59Z
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@wall0159 @johnquiggin Then, let’s jump back in the time machine and head to 2030, when we are dealing with another America First White House, and a UK “obviously” interested in NATOJust how surprising would yet another backflip be?And who cares just how expensive would it be? Because nothing is really as unaffordable as $500 billion. I don’t care if you tell me the exit cost is $10 or $25 or $50 billion — it still can’t hurt as much as $500 billion.
(DIR) Post #ATkVvIZgatAwptL1bU by johnquiggin@mstdn.social
2023-03-18T19:08:05Z
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@ckent @wall0159 I agree it's highly likely the project will be abandoned. But it's there now in projections of future debt, which means Labor will do even less to address our real problems in this budget and the next
(DIR) Post #ATkVvNj5RMfMoUm6S0 by ckent@urbanists.social
2023-03-18T09:39:01Z
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@wall0159 @johnquiggin The point I should lead with there is that the cheque won’t be written for some time anyway. Exiting AUKUS in the 2020s won’t be as hard as it looks.If you marry someone who’s been twice divorced, well you know what they say.
(DIR) Post #ATkVvQlg8BWQFP0iPI by ckent@urbanists.social
2023-03-18T09:43:42Z
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@wall0159 @johnquiggin On a century-long scale, I think I’m slightly more comfortable with AUKUS, and here’s why:Australia is either going to be the mercantilist nation Keating imagines, or it’s not. This is the old Hawke vs Keating vision, and they were always both correct like a Schrödinger’s Cat.But if Australia can’t or won’t stand up and grab its own destiny, then AUKUS is fine. Not “good”, just fine as a consolation prize.
(DIR) Post #ATkVvTFWuAaXwYzaDI by ckent@urbanists.social
2023-03-18T09:59:41Z
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@wall0159 @johnquiggin I have an analogy: Because it’s the lazy expensive option, where you outsource the risk and end up with someone else’s mistakes …It’s like choosing AGL for your power or Telstra for your internet. Harvey Norman for your appliances. Big not mid-sized.It’s all fine most of the time, even most of the problems “meet expectations”. But there are more satisfying options. Serious money to be saved. In extreme crisis, you risk finding no sympathy assuming Big = Safe