Digitally enabled supply chains initially increased efficiency and dramatically shortened lead times. Capital was mobile; labor, less so. Economic activity (production, research, design, etc.) moved to any accessible country or region that had relatively inexpensive labor and human capital.
In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded and crashed down to Earth less than two minutes after takeoff. The cause of that crash, it turned out, was an inexpensive rubber O-ring in the booster rocket that had frozen on the launchpad the night before and failed catastrophically moments after takeoff.
This could be done in part, because the equipment was very inexpensive. Not much money was involved in tooling so that basic changes of that type could be accomplished.
Athens is one of those cities that is very livable. And it’s inexpensive. You can get by. And that makes for creativity. So people tend to stay there. I still have some friends there that never left.
I love the accessibility that my great nation affords us, but it is virtually inescapable for most people in America, and many places abroad, to rely on inexpensive yet unhealthy meals as a main source of sustenance.
I did a lot of thrift and vintage. I would mix those pieces into some of the more inexpensive items from Express, Gap, Old Navy, and Clothestime.
Certainly, my advice is that communicating, lobbying, fundraising and engaging the public in policy and politics is far more exciting and inexpensive via the Internet. Old guard organizations like Common Cause had to evolve to embrace this new environment.
The traditional fast food model is built on buying the cheapest ingredients – and that usually means poor-quality, heavily processed foods. But you can use quality ingredients, cook food using classic cooking techniques, and still serve something that’s fast and inexpensive.
I don’t think Canada is very inexpensive anymore. I travel there all the time; it’s rather on the expensive side. I think there’s significant risk to the Canadian economy.
My work at MIT had focused on what we could build in space once we had inexpensive space transportation and industrial facilities in orbit. And this led to various sorts of work in space development.
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