The Economist - USA (20212-12-04)

The Economist December 4th 2021 UnitedStates 33

A

s tragediesgo, it wasanall­Amer­

icanstory.OnNovember20thSara

NicoleMorales,a 35­year­oldlibrarian

wholivedinOrangeCity,Florida,drove

hercarintoa 40­year­oldmotorcyclist,

AndrewDerr.Accordingtoa statement

issuedbythepolice,MrDerrwasnot

injuredorknockedoffhisbike,and

followedhertoanintersectiontotryto

persuadehertostopandexchangede­

tails.Insteadofstopping,shedroveaway

toherhome,withMrDerrandtwowit­

nessestothecrashinpursuit.Whenthey

arrivedMsMoralescameoutofher

housewitha gunandpointedit atthe

group.MrDerrdrewhisownconcealed

handgunandshotherdead.

Shewaspregnant,engagedtobe

marriedandhadan11­year­olddaughter.

“Thatgirltriedtokillme,”saidMrDerr,

inbody­camfootagereleasedbythe

police.“Shepointeda gunatme.I’mso

sorry.”Theinvestigationcontinuesand

nobodyhasbeencharged.Whatmotivat­

edMsMoralestodrivehercaratMrDerr

andthenpointa gunathimremains

unclear.Buta remarkablenumberof

shootingsbeginwithroadrage.

AccordingtoresearchbyEverytown

forGunSafety,ananti­gunlobbygroup,

2021 islikelytoseesome 500 people

injuredorkilledinroad­rageshootings,

morethandoublethenumberin 2016

(seechart).Theresearchers,SarahBurd­

SharpsandKathrynBistline,analysed

datagatheredfromnewsandpolice

reportstodeterminethenumberof

road­rageshootings.

Whyshouldtheredmistbedescend­

ingevermorefrequently?Itcouldbethat

drivinghasbecomemorestressful.

Beforethepandemicstoppedmuchofit,

thenumberofmilesdrivenduringa year

byAmericanshadbeensoaring,and

congestionwithit.Butevenwhenfar

fewerpeopleweredrivingduringlock­

downslastyear,thenumberofpeople

killedincarcrashesincreasedsharply,

suggestingthatpeoplehavebeendriving

morerecklessly.

In 2020 almost38,700Americansdied

incrashes,a 7%increaseontheprevious

year.Nowmostcarsarebackonthe

road—theamountofdrivingoverthe

Thanksgivingholidaywasexpectedtobe

just3%lowerthisyearthanit wasin

2019—andtheriseinrecklessnessseems

tohavecontinued.Changingcommuting

patternsmeanthattrafficmaybeworse

thanit wasbefore.

However,saysMsBurd­Sharps,a

morelikelyexplanationistheavailabil­

ityofguns.Salessoaredlastyearand

haveremainedhighthisyear.Almost

22mAmericansnowhaveconcealed­

carrypermits,a 48%increaseon2016.

Road­rageshootingsaremostcommon

insouthernstatessuchasTexasand

Alabama,wherea lotofdriversgoarmed.

InCalifornia,NewYorkandHawaii,

whereconcealed­carrypermitsarehard

toget,theyaremuchrarer.Between

them,gunsandcarskillaround80,000

Americansa year,mostofthemyoung.

Combined,theymakefora particularly

lethalcombination.

Gunsandcars

Beepbeep, bangbang

CHICAGO

As Americansgetbackintotheircars,road-rageshootingsarespiking

Anger mismanagement

United States, road-rage incidents with a gun

Total incidents

People injured or killed

800

600

400

200

0

21*201918172016

circles  as  “the  Last  Supper”,  the  then  de­
fence secretary, Les Aspin, warned contrac­
tors  that  an  era  of  fiscal  restraint  had  ar­
rived. The war on terror further distracted
attention from ship production and main­
tenance. Budget battles between President
Barack  Obama  and  a  Republican­con­
trolled Congress resulted in spending cuts.
The industry shrank. Today, Newport News
Shipyard  has  70%  fewer  suppliers  than  it
did 30 years ago.
Since 2016 the navy has reversed course,
in  what  the  brass  at  Huntington­Ingalls
call “the surge”. In the two decades to 2036
the yard will deliver more than double the
tonnage of ships compared with the previ­
ous  20  years.  But  according  to  Chris
Dougherty of the Centre for a New Ameri­
can  Security,  a  Washington  think­tank,
America’s  defence  establishment  remains
divided on its vision for the navy. Whereas
some prefer a larger fleet in order to main­
tain  presence,  without  fussing  too  much
about its composition, others fear a possi­
ble  war  with  China,  which  would  require
prioritising  submarines  and  auxiliary
ships. A third group, worried that America
may  lose  its  technological  edge,  favours  a
focus  on  autonomous  weapons.  Lacking
clear direction, shipyards have little guid­
ance as to which ships to design.

Not exactly shipshape
An  erratic  approach  to  funding  com­
pounds  the  problem.  “Instability  in  one
programme  creates  problems  in  another,”
says  Matt  Needy,  vice­president  for  navy
programmes  at  Newport  News  Shipyard.
He bitterly recalls the time when the Penta­
gon  proposed  to  scrap  the  uss George
Washingtonin  2014  midway  through  its
normal  life  cycle,  only  for  the  move  to  be
reversed after pressure from Congress. The
confusion cost the yard a year of work that
had  been  scheduled  for  scrapping,  result­
ing in lost revenue and lay­offs for workers
building  Virginia­class  submarines.  “The
most important thing for us is consistency
of funding,” says Mr Needy.
That  consistency  is  essential  for  ship­
yards  to  make  long­term  investments,
which can be extremely large. To improve
efficiency,  for  example,  the  yard  has  in­
stalled a towering circular suspension sys­
tem capable of holding the 300­ton hull of
the  stern  of  the  Columbia­class  subma­
rine,  which  is  as  heavy  as  150  Ford  f-150
trucks. The system will also build the suc­
cessor  to  the  Virginia­class  submarine,
known as the ssn(x). 
But the most urgent need is for labour.
“The talent pool is so small that our hiring
can hurt our suppliers,” says Mr Needy. Al­
though Huntington­Ingalls spends $100m
on training and hires thousands of people
every  year,  the  shipbuilding  industry
needs more.
As  shipyards  strain  to  fill  orders,  offi­

cials  are  taking  only  halting  steps  to  sup­

port  them.  Diana  Maurer  of  the  Govern­

ment  Accountability  Office  believes  the

navy’s  plans  to  refurbish  the  public  ship­

yards, which conduct maintenance, are in­

adequate. The shipyard Act, introduced in

Congress in April, would dedicate $25bn to

improvements  but  does  not  tackle  the  is­

sue of worker training. 

All  the  while,  the  demands  on  Ameri­

ca’s  shipyards  from  geopolitical  competi­

tion  are  growing.  The  proposed  defence

budget, set out in the National Defence Au­

thorisation  Act,  passed  by  the  House  of

Representatives  and  stalled  in  the  Senate,

has allocated $24bn more than the $716bn

requested by the White House, with much

of  the  additional  funds  going  to  yet  more

ships. Elaine Luria, a Democratic congress­

woman  from  Virginia  and  a  navy  veteran,

is adamant that the country cannot afford

to slacken the pace. “We’re easily distract­

ed  and  stretched  thin,”  she  says.  “What

message does that send to the Chinese?”n