Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC)

All Comments on NOC

  • commenter
    Benny Siegs
    Aug 13 01:09 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    In response to the above poster, US GDP is in the ballpark of 14 billion, so defense spending is 5%. Not a marginal number, but not overly impressive either. On the other hand, we spend more on social security than we do on defense. The US government has balloning costs in all areas. I do not know that we can pin it entirely on defense, when the big three entitlements: social security, medicare, and medicaid combined are large enough to be the 13th biggest nation by GDP at over 1.2 billion dollars Reply
  • commenter
    Dkiral
    Aug 13 01:08 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    What does this have to do with seekingalpha?

    1. Inflation is highly correlated with war. War's are funded by printing money. This results in greater upward pressure on interest rates to maintain the dollar, or if no adjustments, continued devaluation of the dollar.

    2. This is an optional war, making it a real option. If McCain is elected, it is reasonable to expect the status quo or further escalation into Iran. This would cause greater restrictions on oil supply which would further straining the US's resources and increase the likelihood of a collapse of the US economy.

    3. If Obama is elected, we can expect a near term pull out.
    A pullout will result in a huge reduction of oil demand as the army is no longer burning oil. Speculation would be reduced as their would be less likelihood of further military action in Iran, which would further constrain oil supply.

    4. Gold - Gold's prices are related to a collapse of Iraq's financial infrastructure driving Iraq citizen's to buy gold and the devaluation of the US dollar.

    5. Equity - Oil and Defence sectors are way up. Is this scenerio likely to be true without the war?
    Reply
  • commenter
    kkkkkk
    Aug 13 12:53 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    Quinn's appalling naïveté is reminiscent of a fellow named Neville Chamberlain. Ian4, et al, resemble the chorus that greeted him as he returned to London trumpeting "peace for our time". Reply
  • commenter
    kkkkkk
    Aug 13 12:47 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    Quinn's naïveté is reminiscent of a fellow named Neville Chamberlain. Ian4, et al, resemble the chorus that greeted him as he returned to London trumpeting "peace for our time". Reply
  • commenter
    bbzz24
    Aug 13 12:39 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    And the point of the author I would speculate is not as much on whether there should be military spending or not as much as it revolves around no-bid contracts, $110 vehicle park plugs, $100 per gallon refills for Humvees(4 mpg) etc. Reply
  • commenter
    ts2
    Aug 13 12:30 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    What is this article doing on Seeking Alpha?
    Political articles do not belong on this website.     Reply
  • commenter
    bbzz24
    Aug 13 12:30 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    'There is no country on earth that can challenge the U.S. militarily.'
    Only by spending though. You see what the troops are capable of in Iraq: 4 years after the declared victory they are still there trying to finish things up.     Reply
  • commenter
    buyitcheap
    Aug 13 12:28 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    ian4: I think we're in a lot more agreement than posts back and forth would ever be able to cover, if for no other reason than sore fingers. :-)

    To the author: Another balancing thought though, have you also considered the incredible number of technologies that have been spun out of the DoD? to name a few:
    The internet (funded by DARPA, not al Gore)
    medical technologies
    Advanced materials (kevlar among them)
    GPS
    fuel cell technologies
    nanotechnologies
    solid state storage
    imaging technologies

    While it certainly can't be listed entirely here, an incredible number of the things we use today, started as a DoD sponsored research project at some point, either in development or in basic research - half of MIT, and other leading universities have been BUILT with defense money.

    Reply
  • commenter
    Sgt.Sally
    Aug 13 12:25 PM
    My Website
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    The defense as a percentage of GDP argument as been debunked at length many times....use Google.

    The author understates the true cost of the military. There are many hidden military expenditures in other government departments. For example NASA, the Nuclear Regulatory Admin., most foreign aid is not for schools and hospitals but tanks and guns, etc.

    There is also the intellectual opportunity cost of all our scientific talent going to develop weapons. Useful science and technological advancement has been retarded by decades. It has been conjectured that we will not be until the year 2025 where we would already be today if not for the siphoning away of our minds and money by the war industry.     Reply
  • commenter
    LarryH
    Aug 13 12:23 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    I hope the author feels better now that he got this off his chest. I could feel the emotion coming through the words. There is much truth in the piece and some misapplication of quotes, but there is some sombering truth. I am sure there is a great deal of waste in our military industrial complex, just as there is in virtually all government spending. I was a draft age during Vietnam. How did multiple administrations get so blinded that over 58,000 American soldiers had to die? It is a total distortion to twist Ike's words into an anti-Iraq conclusion, in my opinion. I am also very afraid that human suffering just might increase, not be lessened, without our military. Reply
  • commenter
    ian4
    Aug 13 12:22 PM
    My Website
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    isolationism and nonintervention are not the same. we can still be involved with the rest of the world through trade, friendship and cultural exchange. we have become arrogant and think we need to police the world and act as if the rest of the world exists solely to please us. we did not have to be involved in the world wars. i know many will disagree with that but we knowingly allowed pearl harbor to happen to bring us into ww2 and knowingly put munitions on the lusitania when the germans clearly warned that it would be torpedoed. they even put newspaper ads in american papers (only one of which ran) telling potential passengers this. the rest of the world should be allowed to make their own bad decisions and protect themselves and each other if its important enough to them. If i were a member of the armed services i would have a major problem with being a policeman to the world. that isnt in the job description as measure by the oath they take when they sign up. Reply
  • commenter
    buyitcheap
    Aug 13 12:20 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    Great article but how does this make it into an investment portal exactly?

    Inadvertently ommitted facts are that we engaged in WW2 for example because of the INTERCONTINENTAL missiles that Germany was testing, not just developing.

    Vietnam? well, that was unnecessary. Interesting however that a Democrat was killed and then another Democrat escalated the war and left that mess for others to work out.

    After several dozen bombing attacks (under a Democrat ) culminating in one final attack 9-11, (that would be waiting until the enemy got to our shores) we finally had some adults in office who didn't care whether a counterattack "polled well."

    Bottom line: I agree, we are WAY overextended and should pull back significantly (bye bye Middle East and Japan), however consider the alternative scenarios, regional conflict with lots of smaller armies (see Africa) that is constantly destabilizing? Witness Russia/Georgia and now Ukraine? I think one big way for us to be able to reliably disengage is mining and drilling in our own backyards and not have to go to Saudi Arabia's aid when they snap their fingers.

    As much as you dislike it, this is still about freedom vs. communism. And it will take volunteers and guns to defend freedom.

    The more we engage these countries via trade/exchange, the better off we will all be. Great article.

    Equally up for consideration for future articles - the education/industrial complex and the "healthcare" industrial complex: As an example health and human services is 3 times the DOD budget. Food for thought.     Reply
  • commenter
    BCNCV
    Aug 13 12:18 PM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    Yes, defense is expensive. Have you tried considering the cost of NOT spending on defense?

    As a platoon leader in Iraq (2003-2004) I had more than $2 million worth of equipment for my 32 soldiers. Yes, that was expensive. However, that expensive equipment is what let me bring all 32 soldiers home. In one specific instance, I can credit thermal optics ($.5 million each) with saving the lives of myself and ten others.

    My question to you: If one of your sons were in the military, would your beliefs on defense spending change?     Reply
  • commenter
    sc4ram
    Aug 13 11:39 AM
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    Where was this eloquent author when JFK was seeking the presidency and he accused Ike of overseeing a "missile gap" (Ike knew there was no missile gap because the "military industrial complex" built him U2 spy planes and Corona satellites so that Ike could know what meager missile capability the Soviets had (unfortunately he couldn’t divulge that classified information to rebut JFK's assertions in the 1960 election).

    Ike was miffed by the propensity of the DOD brass to oppose strategies to not spend money and to retard program growth, and thus the staff generals hated him for his efforts to limit defense spending. The DOD brass tried to undermine him for it. (Sounds a bit familiar as Mr. Rumsfeld also tried to exert civilian control over these "fruit salad" wearers in the Pentagon, also with a poor reception.)

    Hopefully the articulate author also knows that Ike was adamant that the US not retreat back into isolationism because 20th century technology had bridged the previous US security barriers of the 2 oceans resulting in forced US involvement in 2 major land wars in Europe in Ike's lifetime, and he was determined to maintain a US presence in Europe to prevent a 3rd.

    The dirty little secret is that most countries either cant or won’t spend appropriately on their defense (in lieu of socialized medicine and 35 hour work weeks). This is their right to do so, but in the event that peace breaks down it always affects the US either from a security standpoint or market access, which impacts the non defense economy that the well spoken author is so enamored with.

    Having myself worked in the Aerospace/defense industry for several decades, I might respectfully remind the author he may have forgotten the relentless string of consolidations and job displacement in this industry that occurred from the late 1980s well into the 90s. (I didn’t read many stories at the time about a corresponding retreating influence of the Military Industrial Complex, as it was becoming a smaller part of the US economy)

    Its widely known in many segments of the Defense industry that there is currently a brain drain, people who graduated from college in the 1960s are now retiring and somehow the industry doesn’t seem glamorous enough to capture a fair share of new college grads. (so much for the all powerful "Complex")

    I don’t have the figures in front of me, but US defense spending, as a percent of GDP is modest at best. (I happen to know the percentage of DOD related semiconductor sales is in the 1 percent range of the total for example). On a pie chart, compared to the rest of the total burgeoning US economy, the Defense biz is a dot at best.

    Like many things that Ike said, his statements were certainly applicable at the time he said them, however the world and economic environment has changed drastically in 5 decades and I would respectfully ask the readers to consider that before applying Ike's template to today.
    Reply
  • commenter
    ian4
    Aug 13 11:01 AM
    My Website
    The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex [view article]
    Also, the best defense is leaving other people the hell alone and not getting involved in their business. Who said we needed to be an empire? we dont need our forces in countries all over the world. non interventionism allows us to focus on us. if someone wants to come over and mess with us THEN we can kick some ass if we need to. Maybe if we stop making so many enemies we can live a bit simpler and with less fear. Reply

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