Austin Pulsipher's Profile

The US government has made a series of strategic decisions that have unfolded into a very difficult situation within the space industry. Space is much more than scientific exploration, I use my GPS nearly everyday and know the US military relies on intelligence that is bounced off satellites orbiting the earth. As we look back on the US government’s exodus from building launch vehicles, the US government has become beholden to the decisions of private enterprises. I find it very concerning and hilarious that in a situation of contention with the Russians that we are reliant on them for critical pieces of infrastructure that relate to our national security. It is amazing to see how interconnected the world has become and important to realize the impact of how certain isolationist policies ripple through the economy and government. Bezos and Musk, who have been driven to space by their fascination with the topic could be the unlikely winners in this problem because of their domestic production. For any industry it is vital to always have a plan B. UAL was put in a very unfortunate position where geopolitical issues interfered with their profitability and they did not have a Plan B.

I love that Adidas is pushing the envelope in what is possible for shoe production. I agree with your conclusion that bringing this factory back to Germany is not a move to bring jobs back to Germany but is more an opportunity to have a very small factory close to corporate HQ. I hope that this factory is able to increase the speed at which Adidas is improving its product. The next to 0 turnaround time will allow the designers to experiment with more products and “fail fast”. For Adidas, I hope this is an opportunity. I worry that this factory will have an over demand for constant rush orders. I would ask Adidas how they will regulate the demand for small batches out of this factory so that the factory is ruining at full capacity while allowing for rush order availability. The tragedy for this factory would be that if it can turn out a show in 1 day but it takes 2 months to get a shoe through the factory because the wait time is soo long.

Very interesting to see that American Taxpayers are subsidizing foreign investment into the United States. Your article raises another interesting issue that has plagued our country for at least the last decade, is more education always better for someone, no matter the cost. I have personally seen individuals take out massive amounts of student loans to pursue non-STEM related degrees that end up yield very few job opportunities. Some of the worst situations were students attending for profit universities that gave degrees but students learned nothing. Your article makes me think that a contributing factor to the broken secondary education system we have in the US has potentially been driven by the lack of manufacturing jobs in the US and STEM related jobs. This has created a negative feedback loop exacerbating the education and manufacturing problems.

Very interesting thoughts about a seemingly useless landmass. If in fact Greenland has a run on its minerals, I would be very interested to know what type of infrastructure would need to be established to support the influx of jobs. I could see Greenland having similar problems that North Dakota had in the most recent spike in oil. There were individuals paying Manhattan level apartment prices because there was such little supply of housing in the region. Unemployment was extremely low and wages were high but once the price of oil fell the region really suffered. What makes Greenland even more interesting is that it is a massive island. I would be worried about the food supply and of of the logistics that would need to be set up to supply a growing population. A potential opportunity for Greenland is to start farming their land as the frozen tundra may turn into fertile farm/pastureland.

I had no idea and I wonder how many other people knew that Tabasco came from one facility in Louisiana. Not to undermine the family business but Tabasco is a staple across the country and I wonder if the public would care if the company were to leave Avery Island. I see that there is quite a bit of history on the Island but if the family believes there is going to be a step function in the viability of continuing operations, they should look to start a different plant in a very different location. This would greatly mitigate the risk of any natural disaster and general climate change.

It is novel that the construction industry is adapting to the digital movement but very unclear to me why it has been such a slow process. The 3D printing and robotic possibilities in construction are extremely interesting to me since there will continue to be a shortage of qualified labor to build ever more complex projects.