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Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row

breakingdefense.com

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Re: Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row

#121

Post by smileysteve »

Mistletoe wrote: post #3

Can anyone explain to me why it is awful for a person to live in debt but it is okay for the federal government to do so? I've never understood this in the least, other than the "kick the can down the road, America superpower backed by military blah, blah, blah" very weak argument. History is full of the carnage of failed empires that had this same idea. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEBTN 32 trillion in debt…

> it is awful for a person to live in debt

Is an interesting premise when data is

> American households carry a total of $17.29 trillion in debt as of the third quarter of 2023, and the average household debt is $103,358 as of the second quarter of 2023.

Re: Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row

#122

Post by HFguy »

uticus wrote: post #35
DrNosferatu wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s the Fallacy of Composition - the economics of a government are not the economics of a grocery store or a household: https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/21/post-crash-...

Sorry, but 'Fallacy of Composition' is just a theory. (Disclaimer: I happen to disagree with it.) Ultimately the way these ideas about economic theory are approached is a lot more philosophical/religious-based (for the Atheists, please read that 'strong belief-based') and a lot less math based than some would be willing to admit. Honestly the math itself is usually statistical, which in turn is a lot more difficult t…

I would put aside statistics and whether we completely understand how the economy works (we don't).

Just ask...are there are very fundamental differences between the finances of an individual and the government? There are. For starters, the government can simply print money and pay off debts. They can also choose, by their actions, to inflate away nominal liabilities.

So then it is reasonable to consider that "being in debt" may have different ramifications for the government than for an individual.

Re: Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row

#123

Post by btbuildem »

Pardon me if this is too simplistic, but wouldn't cutting back the budget begin to instil some fiscal responsibility into an organization?

Conducting an audit seems like just another expenditure in a climate of obscene overabundance of resources that encourages spending more and more.

Re: Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row

#125

Post by Miner49er »

whatshisface wrote: post #97
thelastgallon wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incentives only work on low-skilled labor that is quantifiable. Eg. more money for flipping more burgers. It is not a settled science paying people a lot more will automagically solve problems. People crave Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbR2V1UeB_A What is definitely going to happen is you will attract the cowboys who have convinced themselves and can convince you to pay top dollar. The…

250k is not top dollar, it is average for experienced engineers.

No, that is not average, maybe in high COL areas, but that obviously would then not be average.

Re: Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row

#126

Post by grotorea »

logicchains wrote: post #17
digitalengineer wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Small correction: it’s awful for a poor person to live in debt. If you are quite wealthy there are lots of ways to borrow money and it’s all good!

>If you are quite wealthy there are lots of ways to borrow money and it’s all good! If you have a negative net worth (more debt than assets) you're generally not considered a wealthy person.

How would you even calculate the asset value for a government? Normally you'd compare it to GDP which is something else.

Re: Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row

#127

Post by importantbrian »

jfoutz wrote: post #93

I know I'm incredibly naive, and there's no political will to actually make the system work. It seems like various sections and departments are passing audits. If you're within, say, 1% just allocate the funds. If you didn't pass the audit, fill out this form and then get the money. The form can be classified. I have no idea, but I'd imagine like payroll and taxes are pretty much perfect. Once you get a handle on who…

Divide and conquer actually does seem to be the strategy. Each department within the DoD does its own audit, and a few of those departments actually have passed. But most of them have failed with a few still ongoing.

The bigger issue is the no political will part. If congress mandated that senior pentagon officials lose their jobs when they fail an audit they would get the process figured out really quickly. As is there's no urgency because there are no consequences for failure.

Re: Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row

#128

Post by grotorea »

HideousKojima wrote: post #22
nxm wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Debt is also how economies and a lot of companies grow

They could also grow by saving and reinvesting surpluses/profits

AFAIK the standard economic opinion is that this is suboptimal and leads to underinvestment.

Re: Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row

#129

Post by metabagel »

whatshisface wrote: post #97
thelastgallon wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incentives only work on low-skilled labor that is quantifiable. Eg. more money for flipping more burgers. It is not a settled science paying people a lot more will automagically solve problems. People crave Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbR2V1UeB_A What is definitely going to happen is you will attract the cowboys who have convinced themselves and can convince you to pay top dollar. The…

250k is not top dollar, it is average for experienced engineers.

Outside the Bay Area, $250K is top dollar.

Re: Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row

#130

Post by metabagel »

rumdz wrote: post #115
whatshisface wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

250k is not top dollar, it is average for experienced engineers.

Outside of CA?

Even in Southern California, $250K is a very high salary for developers, at least in embedded systems, which is the space I’m familiar with.
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