Last night at the Republican debate, Chris Christie promised to reinvigorate the U.S. nuclear submarine fleet. If he is elected president in 2024 and dedicated himself to the task, it would probably take the bulk of his presidency to get General Dynamics Electric Boat and Newport News of Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding to the point where they could manufacture and maintain a substantially larger nuclear submarine fleet.

It’s refreshing to hear these ideas echoed in a presidential debate — and not used hollowly, but rather to raise awareness of a pressing issue — but the fact remains, simply to promise positive movement in the direction of shipbuilding competitiveness is a difficult proposition, let alone to solve the problem.

But — as Christie says — nuclear submarines are important; they’re difficult to maintain, and those of them that carry nuclear weapons are a crucial component of the so-called nuclear triad, an important deterrent to most countries when it comes to attacking the U.S. Something has to change.

THE BIG STORY

Submarines at the Republican Presidential Debate

Chris Christie’s “priority number one” is making more state-of-the-art nuclear submarines. How feasible is this?

One of the useful things about presidential primaries is that candidates have an opportunity to highlight various programs and “trial balloon” them — bring them before the U.S. public to see their reaction in some cases, and to spotlight critical issues in others.

Last night (Wednesday) during the second GOP primary debate, former governor of New Jersey Chris Christie advocated for the expansion of the U.S. nuclear submarine program, claiming that it would be his top priority. A recent piece published by War on The Rocks gives credence to Christie’s claims and sense of urgency — there is no better guarantee against war between nuclear armed powers than a credible threat of destruction in the case of an invasion.

This (along with Russia’s recent invasions) is one of the reasons Ukraine laments having given up its stockpile of nuclear weapons in the 1990s!

Is America’s industrial base for submarine production truly in straits so dire it requires presidential attention? On the one hand, yes — it is. According to the well-researched and written WOTR piece employment is somewhere between 15% (Electric Boat) and 20% (Newport News) of its height during the Cold War in the 1980s, meaning most labor is dedicated to upkeep and maintenance rather than new construction. It takes specialists years to develop the skills and credentials to work on the most challenging projects, and a great deal of institutional knowledge. Losing over 10,000 workers in the 1990s was a body blow to the industry — certainly where I am in Connecticut — and that requires attention and energy at the highest level.

On the other hand, no! As I wrote earlier, there’s some latitude for states such as Connecticut to put energy into this. Not necessarily when it comes to purchasing nuclear submarines, of course (this is infeasible in a way building helicopters is not). There are plenty of jobs that could keep the underwater welders, electricians, and metal fabricators busy — if Connecticut wanted. At present, matters like this are seen as the sole provenance of private industry selling to the monopsony held by the federal government.

Furthermore, incentivizing or building industry is something over which the president has very little power — by design. At the same time that it was good to hear him say what he did for people worried about the depth and resilience of U.S. naval power, and especially submarines, there really isn’t much Christie would be able to do as president to keep the U.S. at a competitive advantage with China and other advanced near-peer nations. You have to start somewhere, and acknowledging the problem in public is a good first step.

TOP READS IN MONEY & FINANCE

Semiconductor and chip company Arm Holdings announced its first earnings report after going public. The results were not encouraging.

Striking actors and Hollywood studios seem to have reached an agreement, which is good news for anyone who holds investments related to the entertainment industry.

Nintendo is beginning to tap its video game IP for film and other entertainment, hoping to move into a realm previously occupied solely by Disney. Bold! And no I will not be watching the Zelda movie, my childhood memory of playing the original gold cartridge can never be outdone.

Rivian — and other electric vehicle startups — face big problems with profitability. How long can they continue producing vehicles at prices well below what they templated as a path to financial success?

Cruise had to recall 950 self-driving automobiles in California after one of its vehicles severely injured a woman.

An anti-obesity drug produced by Eli Lilly will be sold to people suffering from obesity. Weird to see it written out like that!

Every time I see a company such as Amazon trying to break into health care I’m reminded of how completely broken the U.S. health care system is — and entrenched in the bureaucracy. Best way to become recession-proof.

TOP READS IN THE MILITARY & FOR VETERANS

If I were the boss of the military I would secretly develop this capability and then just keep it in my back pocket for wartime.

The Army is developing AI capabilities for detection, logistics, and operations.

Positive news for folks hoping to see MDMA and psilocybin treatment for PTSD in the near future.

Health care costs for everyone in the U.S. are going to continue to rise until there’s a revolution or until we get single payer health care. Tricare costs going up for 2024, too.

You write a book about a crime you do, you have to be prepared to face the consequences.

Interesting study, not sure most people I know would agree with it, but maybe that’s just a Connecticut thing.

Fighting continues to rage between Iranian proxies and U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Houthis shot down a U.S. drone over Yemen. Basically this is why we use drones instead of manned aircraft, this sort of thing.

TOP READS AROUND THE WORLD

The post-conflict resolution for Gaza will likely see a reduced role for Israel — and probably, too, for the U.S., given global perceptions. If it leads to peace and security for the Israelis and Palestinians, I’m all for exploring options.

Leave it to the Japanese to envision and attempt a massive quixotic attempt to control or channel the weather… anyone who has lived in Japan understands that this type of project is quintessentially Japanese.

Russia trying to re-import weapons and equipment it sold to other countries to fill manufacturing shortfalls. How, it cannot be stressed enough, the mighty have fallen.

Online scammers are impersonating airlines when flights are delayed or canceled.

Morgan Stanley’s wealth management arm is being evaluated for potential lapses in security… of concern, the habit of taking money from foreigners that MS shouldn’t.

HUMOR

Really solid piece from Duffel Blog about the Department of Defense’s newest organization.