Cheaper and faster isn't always better

BACK in the early 1990s, US space agency Nasa adopted a new slogan - better, faster, cheaper - that represented a new focus on cutting costs, streamlining its business and downsizing. The direction from Nasa headquarters and the Clinton administration at the time was to "do more with less", resulting in contracts being awarded to the lowest bidders.

After a few high-profile mission failures, that approach appears to have been quietly abandoned. There seems to be a tacit acknowledgement today that some aspects of space flight - manned or otherwise - cannot be subjected to straightforward cost-cutting or routine business rationalisation.

Interestingly enough, Nasa's experience holds useful lessons for a segment of the local financial market where "cheaper, faster, better" is a mantra that has taken grip.