Uploaded September 2021 | Updated September 2026, 18 hours ago
On this episode of Common Sense Soapbox, Ron, Sarah, Bob and Seamus get detained by the Coast Guard on a military base. Bob quickly learns that everything is WAY more expensive than it should be, but why? Seamus explains how waste is a feature, not a bug, of military spending and describes the perverse incentives and lack of oversight that fuel it.
Animation Credits:
Natasha Canepa
Jaime Velasquez
Caleb Black
Amazil
Seamus Coughlin
LINKS:
forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2020/09/24/five-ways-gao-fails-to-understand-defense-industry-independent-rd/?sh=6ca0191d48fe
washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html
defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/11/16/the-pentagon-failed-its-audit-again-but-sees-progress
militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/03/12/use-it-or-lose-it-dod-dropped-46-million-on-crab-and-lobster-and-9000-on-a-chair-in-last-minute-spending-spree
https://www.actioneconomics.com.au/2016/11/18/milton-friedman-on-four-ways-to-spend-money/
On this episode of Common Sense Soapbox, Ron, Sarah, Bob and Seamus get detained by the Coast Guard on a military base. Bob quickly learns that everything is WAY more expensive than it should be, but why? Seamus explains how waste is a feature, not a bug, of military spending and describes the perverse incentives and lack of oversight that fuel it.
Animation Credits:
Natasha Canepa
Jaime Velasquez
Caleb Black
Amazil
Seamus Coughlin
LINKS:
forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2020/09/24/five-ways-gao-fails-to-understand-defense-industry-independent-rd/?sh=6ca0191d48fe
washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html
defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/11/16/the-pentagon-failed-its-audit-again-but-sees-progress
militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/03/12/use-it-or-lose-it-dod-dropped-46-million-on-crab-and-lobster-and-9000-on-a-chair-in-last-minute-spending-spree
https://www.actioneconomics.com.au/2016/11/18/milton-friedman-on-four-ways-to-spend-money/
