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A comment on The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex. Parent comment

Re:The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex by legitster on Sunday April 16, 2023 @11:28AM (#35590800)
It was actually a really successful model during WWII. A tank (or something) would be designed by one group and then 5-6 different manufacturers got a contract to manufacture it. We made tons of tanks at very competitive prices.

As the article points out, modern procurement is a different story.

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Re:The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex by yunohn on Sunday April 16, 2023 @11:57AM (#35591169)
As far as I can tell, the defence companies we’re talking about were not public back then?
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Re:The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex by aynyc on Sunday April 16, 2023 @12:01PM (#35591200)
Yes, they were. Back in WWII, pretty much every companies were in the war effort. IBM made rifles and Ford made bombers (B-24s).
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Re:The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex by whitemary on Sunday April 16, 2023 @12:18PM (#35591374)
Those were "public" as in state-controlled. These are "public" as in publicly traded. Very big difference.
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Re:The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex by yunohn on Sunday April 16, 2023 @12:20PM (#35591386)
WW2: 1939-1945

IPO years per my research -

Raytheon: 1952

Boeing: 1962

Lockheed Martin: 1994

Northrop Grumman (pre merger): 1939

Hard to find clear sources on this, but doesn’t seem like the major defense contractors we’re talking about were public during WW2.

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Re:The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex by aynyc on Sunday April 16, 2023 @01:56PM (#35592513)
Ah, I tho OP means back then, the defense manufacturers weren't public. I didn't realize they meant today's defense contractors.
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Re:The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex by cafard on Monday April 17, 2023 @08:50AM (#35599890)
I don't get it. Lockheed and Martin were different companies in WW II.
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Re:The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex by legitster on Sunday April 16, 2023 @12:00PM (#35591196)
They were - they were just general manufacturers. You even had companies like Chrysler and IBM taking gun manufacturing contracts.
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Re:The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex by ambicapter on Sunday April 16, 2023 @11:59AM (#35591191)
What does that have to do with issuing stock?
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