Nelson testifies cost-plus contracts have been a “plague” on NASA

Re:Nelson testifies cost-plus contracts have been a “plague”... by treeman79 on Wednesday May 04, 2022 @02:45PM (#31264295)

This is also where free markets shine. If someone is making absurd profits building in-efficient widgets. It won’t be that long before other people get the idea to make that same widget for less or better quality or both.

But first company will then go out of business or become efficient.

Survival of the fittest evolution style for business.

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Re:Nelson testifies cost-plus contracts have been a “plague”... by x86_64Ubuntu on Wednesday May 04, 2022 @03:17PM (#31264658)

This assumes that there are no intellectual property encumberances held by the old company, and that the barrier to entry isn't terribly high. And no one with a budget and a deadline is going to wait for one company to go out of business so they can get it cheaper.

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Re:Nelson testifies cost-plus contracts have been a “plague”... by ipaddr on Wednesday May 04, 2022 @04:14PM (#31265258)

The first company has first movers advantage which lets them signs exclusive deals and builds a regulatory moat plus gains brand awareness.

The new company may be cheaper or have better quality but that isn't an automatic win. The second company needs more money or an event to superseed the first story.

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