Also the current troubles of Boeing, even if caused by the self-dealing shysterism of its executives, are nothing new, here is a story from the beginning of WW2, as to the design and manufacturing of B-29 bombers:
“The project was a hideously complex and expensive weapons program with a total cost more than double that of the Manhattan Project, requiring the coordination of thousands of contractors and production facilities spread across the United States. After Boeing missed multiple deadlines to deliver combat-worthy planes to the U.S. Army Air Force, Hap Arnold empowered General Bennett Meyers to take control of the production process and do everything possible to bring out the plane; ‘The Battle of Kansas’ thus ensued. Thousands of technicians from all over the country were called into Wichita, modification centers at Great Bend, Pratt, Walter, and Salina, working in subzero weather and snowstorms. The shock force of aircraft technicians replaced the plating on the wings, the glass in the cockpit, modified the cowl flaps around the engines, and removed, replaced, and resoldered every electrical connection.
The ‘Battle of Kansas’ involved direct military control over civilian workforce, and it furnished an example of how centralized authority and accountability could quickly yield results. Within weeks, the first B-29s were flying. By the war’s end, Boeing delivered more than 3,600 Superfortresses.”
All this is nothing compared to the immense paper profits (but easily cashable with HELOCs) made by dozens of millions of middle class voters thanks to booming property. All those profits are entirely redistributed from the lower classes and are almost entirely enabled by a fantastic expansion of the Fed balance sheet.
As long as middle class property shysters keep getting massive real estate profits they will continue to vote for more profligate reaganism and upwards redistribution in eager complicity with Wall Street.
This doesn't remind me of Russia in 1903, so much as it reminds me of the Soviet Union in 1990. That was a time when everyone in the USSR knew that the current system was still dangerous but collapsing. Still, by that point nobody paid more than lip service to the ideas underlying the system. Meanwhile, grift and fraud were abounding, and those in the know were hard at work, stealing everything that not nailed down while there were still things out there that could be stolen.
For a while there in the dying days of the Soviet Union, entrepreneurial minded grifters were stealing abandoned Aeroflot airliners and setting up their own airlines. Sounds legit.
In the link I provided, a few days ago, Kodak – which is a public company with less than $100 million in market cap, basically a glorified pension fund – is set to receive $765 million in non-recourse, unsecured “loans” from the International Development Finance Corporation (owned by the US government) to create a “pharmaceutical start-up” that over a period of eight years will start making "pharmaceutical supplies”. Whatever that means.
Of course, Kodak has zero expertise or experience in pharmaceutical supply production. The DFC was established by the Trump administration in 2019 to replace the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. As the link details, the Kodak executive team have strong ties to the Trump Administration. Naturally, the stock price of Kodak soared. Needless to say, the Kodak executive team are largely paid in stock and options, and they recently got big grants in the previous sixty days. That also means that they got paid up front, as much as $400,000,000 between them. Not bad for work that they personally will never have to deliver on.
Spot on Russell, and I think the funniest thing is how everyone calls the USD the cleanest shirt in the laundry!
Also the current troubles of Boeing, even if caused by the self-dealing shysterism of its executives, are nothing new, here is a story from the beginning of WW2, as to the design and manufacturing of B-29 bombers:
https://im1776.com/2024/03/18/boeing-decline/
“The project was a hideously complex and expensive weapons program with a total cost more than double that of the Manhattan Project, requiring the coordination of thousands of contractors and production facilities spread across the United States. After Boeing missed multiple deadlines to deliver combat-worthy planes to the U.S. Army Air Force, Hap Arnold empowered General Bennett Meyers to take control of the production process and do everything possible to bring out the plane; ‘The Battle of Kansas’ thus ensued. Thousands of technicians from all over the country were called into Wichita, modification centers at Great Bend, Pratt, Walter, and Salina, working in subzero weather and snowstorms. The shock force of aircraft technicians replaced the plating on the wings, the glass in the cockpit, modified the cowl flaps around the engines, and removed, replaced, and resoldered every electrical connection.
The ‘Battle of Kansas’ involved direct military control over civilian workforce, and it furnished an example of how centralized authority and accountability could quickly yield results. Within weeks, the first B-29s were flying. By the war’s end, Boeing delivered more than 3,600 Superfortresses.”
All this is nothing compared to the immense paper profits (but easily cashable with HELOCs) made by dozens of millions of middle class voters thanks to booming property. All those profits are entirely redistributed from the lower classes and are almost entirely enabled by a fantastic expansion of the Fed balance sheet.
As long as middle class property shysters keep getting massive real estate profits they will continue to vote for more profligate reaganism and upwards redistribution in eager complicity with Wall Street.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/opendoor-open-faces-an-expensive-path-to-profitability-in-real-estate
“From the minute the average couple buys a home they're constantly calculating how much they'll make when they sell it”
It ain't just Boeing, and it didn't just start. Everything, everywhere, all the time.
Epsilon Theory is a respected financial newsletter.
https://www.epsilontheory.com/the-grifters-chapter-1-kodak/?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=ET%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email
This doesn't remind me of Russia in 1903, so much as it reminds me of the Soviet Union in 1990. That was a time when everyone in the USSR knew that the current system was still dangerous but collapsing. Still, by that point nobody paid more than lip service to the ideas underlying the system. Meanwhile, grift and fraud were abounding, and those in the know were hard at work, stealing everything that not nailed down while there were still things out there that could be stolen.
For a while there in the dying days of the Soviet Union, entrepreneurial minded grifters were stealing abandoned Aeroflot airliners and setting up their own airlines. Sounds legit.
In the link I provided, a few days ago, Kodak – which is a public company with less than $100 million in market cap, basically a glorified pension fund – is set to receive $765 million in non-recourse, unsecured “loans” from the International Development Finance Corporation (owned by the US government) to create a “pharmaceutical start-up” that over a period of eight years will start making "pharmaceutical supplies”. Whatever that means.
Of course, Kodak has zero expertise or experience in pharmaceutical supply production. The DFC was established by the Trump administration in 2019 to replace the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. As the link details, the Kodak executive team have strong ties to the Trump Administration. Naturally, the stock price of Kodak soared. Needless to say, the Kodak executive team are largely paid in stock and options, and they recently got big grants in the previous sixty days. That also means that they got paid up front, as much as $400,000,000 between them. Not bad for work that they personally will never have to deliver on.
Then there's the trading volume in Kodak stock:
https://twitter.com/TESLAcharts/status/1288419226013794305/photo/1
Golly gee. Why that looks like insider trading.
This is pretty much the textbook case of crony capitalism. <i>What could possibly go wrong?</i>