The Case against the Jones Act
The Case against the Jones Act

Author: Colin Grabow

Publisher: Cato Institute

Published: 2020-06-11

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1948647990

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How has an archaic, burdensome law been able to persist for a century? Passed in 1920, the Jones Act restricts the waterborne transport of cargo within the United States to vessels that are U.S.-flagged, U.S.-crewed, U.S.-owned, and U.S.-built. Meant to bolster the U.S. maritime sector, this protectionist law has instead contributed to its decline. As a result, today’s U.S. oceangoing domestic fleet numbers fewer than 100 ships. Beyond leaving a shrunken and uncompetitive maritime sector in its wake, the law has also inflicted considerable damage on the broader U.S. public that range from higher transportation costs to increased pollution. The chapters in The Case against the Jones Act delve into some of the act’s founding myths and the false narrative its supporters have helped to perpetuate. The book evaluates the law’s costs, assesses its impact on businesses, consumers, and the environment, and offers alternatives for a way forward. The Jones Act’s failures reveal that the status quo is untenable. Contributors to this volume hope that the evidence presented will spark discussion about the Jones Act and lay the groundwork for the repeal or significant reform of this outdated law.

Buying Military Transformation
Buying Military Transformation

Author: Peter Dombrowski

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2006-09-26

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 0231509650

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In Buying Military Transformation, Peter Dombrowski and Eugene Gholz analyze the United States military's ongoing effort to capitalize on information technology. New ideas about military doctrine derived from comparisons to Internet Age business practices can be implemented only if the military buys technologically innovative weapons systems. Buying Military Transformation examines how political and military leaders work with the defense industry to develop the small ships, unmanned aerial vehicles, advanced communications equipment, and systems-of-systems integration that will enable the new military format. Dombrowski and Gholz's analysis integrates the political relationship between the defense industry and Congress, the bureaucratic relationship between the firms and the military services, and the technical capabilities of different types of businesses. Many government officials and analysts believe that only entrepreneurial start-up firms or leaders in commercial information technology markets can produce the new, network-oriented military equipment. But Dombrowski and Gholz find that the existing defense industry will be best able to lead military-technology development, even for equipment modeled on the civilian Internet. The U.S. government is already spending billions of dollars each year on its "military transformation" program-money that could be easily misdirected and wasted if policymakers spend it on the wrong projects or work with the wrong firms. In addition to this practical implication, Buying Military Transformation offers key lessons for the theory of "Revolutions in Military Affairs." A series of military analysts have argued that major social and economic changes, like the shift from the Agricultural Age to the Industrial Age, inherently force related changes in the military. Buying Military Transformation undermines this technologically determinist claim: commercial innovation does not directly determine military innovation; instead, political leadership and military organizations choose the trajectory of defense investment. Militaries should invest in new technology in response to strategic threats and military leaders' professional judgments about the equipment needed to improve military effectiveness. Commercial technological progress by itself does not generate an imperative for military transformation. Clear, cogent, and engaging, Buying Military Transformation is essential reading for journalists, legislators, policymakers, and scholars.

Naval Engineering in the 21st Century
Naval Engineering in the 21st Century

Author: Transportation Research Board

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2011-09-02

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 0309225175

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TRB Special Report 306: Naval Engineering in the 21st Century: The Science and Technology Foundation for Future Naval Fleets examines the state of basic and applied research in the scientific fields that support naval engineering and explores whether Office of Naval Research (ONR) activities, under its National Naval Responsibility for Naval Engineering (NNR-NE) initiative, have been effective in sustaining these fields. The committee developed a series of conclusions and recommendations in five areas--the value of the NNR-NE, the state of science and technology supporting naval engineering, the wholeness of the NNR-NE research portfolio, opportunities for enhancement of research and education, and the effectiveness of the NNR-NE initiative. The report's recommendations are addressed to the administrators of the NNR-NE initiative and of ONR.