Pentagon Trying To Save Money...

...but Congress won't let it. That's a switch, isn't it? It seems that certain politicians have fallen for the old "illusion of choice" canard that huge companies like to trot out to confuse and evoke those free market passions. But, in this case, the tax payers are still shelling out all the development money for the second engine trying to "compete" with the original choice. Um, there's no savings there, especially when you only have one customer, and he's already paying you, to develop a "cheaper" product. Yeah, competition in the free market will bring savings! Usually, that's the case, but only when you have lots of customers and lots of competitors. Here's how an economist would explain the "competition" between Pratt & Whitney and GE:

Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, a research group known for close ties to the Pentagon and industry, said in a report to be released this week that the benefits of competition on a second engine had been overstated by some in Congress.

"When workloads shrink, the potential for economies of scale are reduced," wrote Thompson in a closely argued piece.

Like I said, a misapplication and misunderstanding of free market practices.