April 16, 2008
The Cost of War
I know there's no direct connection, but I couldn't help but think of those complaints about the cost of the Iraq war to the state when I read this bit of rare positive news:
A California aerospace company is scouting locations in Rhode Island in order to open a facility to build armored boats by the end of the year.Kelly Space & Technology is looking for a 20,000- to 30,000-square-foot building to accommodate manufacturing operations and engineering offices, according to chief executive officer Michael J. Gallo. The company has opened an office in Warwick near T.F. Green Airport and has one employee evaluating potential sites, Gallo said. ...
... Gallo, a native of Fitchburg, Mass., also was drawn by Rhode Island's expertise in the boat-building industry and the defense contractors in the state and nearby.
The company also was attracted by assistance from the state's Business Innovation Factory, a nonprofit company that includes government officials and that seeks to support experimentation and innovation.
I bet they're non-union. No love for them from lil Rhodey.
I wonder if they'll need an IT geek...
Posted by: Greg at April 16, 2008 12:47 PM Cool, if they're not scared off by well-to-do taxpayers trying to blackmail the state.
Even cooler if they have peacetime production plans, too.
Here goes another $1 million in state tax credit from EDC that taxpayers must foot the bill.
Posted by: Ken at April 16, 2008 4:25 PMI had no idea that Iraq had beaches. Bring it on.
Posted by: Phil at April 16, 2008 6:42 PMPhil,
Actually Iraq has 58 km or about 36 miles of coastline on the Persian Gulf.
Posted by: Ken at April 16, 2008 7:08 PM"Here goes another $1 million in state tax credit from EDC that taxpayers must foot the bill."
Umm... That makes zero sense. Nobody 'foots the bill' for a tax credit. Unless you come from the camp of "All money belongs to the government and they let us keep some."
Posted by: Greg at April 17, 2008 9:52 AMKen thank you. I stand corrected.
Posted by: Phil at April 18, 2008 5:48 AMJustin,
Are you saying that it's a good idea to have a war because business can profit from it? Tell that to the families of the 4,000 dead U.S. military who have been killed in Iraq so that some company can move in to R.I. and employ a few people.
OldTimeLefty
No, OTL. I'm merely offering a modest retort to those who make economic declarations against the war. Saying that the economic effects of war are not all negative is not the same as saying, "Money good; war good."
Posted by: Justin Katz at April 20, 2008 7:13 AMBut your comments look past the dead as they say that some economic good comes from war. Acceptable collateral damage?
OldTimeLefty