Who Says Numbers Never Lie?

At the Pentagon, cutting costs can mean adding 9.5%

Billion-dollar cost overruns? Massive problems in paying for weapons? When Pentagon Analyst Franklin Spinney (TIME, March 7) raised these possibilities in explosive congressional testimony, his superiors loftily replied that these were merely "historical" problems that Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger's cost cutters have brought under control. Moreover, they hinted that they would shortly have proof in the form of a new report on weapons costs. Spinney's boss, David Chu, promised the Senate Armed Services Committee "a pleasant surprise." The Pentagon unveiled the document last...