Arthur HermanIn a recent Wall Street Journal, an opinion piece written by Arthur Herman, who is identified only as the author* of a book titled, Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, focused on the (alleged) aging weaponry used by the military. Mr. Herman lauds the free market in contrast to “layers of bureaucracy”, but fails to provide a shred of evidence regarding the latter. He then contradicts himself by stating that in “2009 alone, cost overruns on 95 major weapons systems came to more than $295 billion – a sum equal to almost half the current Pentagon budget.” (Last week the House approved a Defense budget exceeding $600 billion.) Thus, Mr. Herman approves of the weapons’ marketplace loves to gouge the taxpayer. Remember the $200 toilet seat from approximately 20 years ago? Repeat and repeat.
*The WSJ failed to mention that Mr. Herman is employed by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. How convenient.
