Lowball

In April, NASA selected SpaceX to build the lunar lander for the Artemis program, thanks in part to a lowball $2.9 billion bid.

At the meeting last Wednesday during which these changes were announced, the interim head of the NEH also estimated that each of the 250 statues would cost $100,000 to $200,000, bringing the total cost as high as $50 million. And this may have been a lowball figure.

It may be, but it is worth noting that if the mortality rate is as low as 0.7% as some experts now hope rather than between 3 and 5% as the data suggests so far, that is still a lot of dead Americans. Californian health officials are bracing for a 56% infection rate. In New York, they are talking about a range of between 30% and 80%, so if we just lowball that, that is close to seven hundred thousand dead Americans as a result of COVID-19. Modeling based on current social and economic disruption actually puts the number at 1.2 million people dying, all the way up to 2.2 million if no measures are taken to reduce contagion and the virus is allowed to run its course.

A few other news flashes from the interview: The president of the United States thinks that the government should not pay its bills in full. It should lowball its contractors and force them to accept half payment, he said.