Originally Posted by
ORAC
To be told that the least worst option is to buy a £3bn aircraft carrier, deploy it without aircraft, then flog it to whichever tin-pot country desperate enough to buy a second-hand white elephant is such a rage-inducing development that David Cameron is going to have to work hard to explain it later today.
It does indeed seem madness but though it be madness there is method in it. If cancellation costs are £3bn and completion costs are the same, then selling it on later at £1bn is clearly better.
Equally to spend billions on the fixed wing aircraft and then sell it would also be madness.
Ergo, build and sell is the least worse option; bit like a builder finishing a house and selling at a loss rather than write off the initial outlay.