Production Costs

Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, unhappy with the skyrocketing costs of the Air Force's newest air-to-air missile, designed by Hughes Aircraft Co., has ordered a delay in production and left open the possibility that he might actually cancel the program, it was learned today.

George Cunningham doesn't like recessions any more than the next guy. But this one, he says, is an educational experience for conventional farmers, a kind of comeuppance for the majority of American growers who rely heavily on chemicals to ply their trade. Spurred by skyrocketing oil prices, the economic downturn has hurt conventional agriculture by driving up the price of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and diesel fuel--petroleum-based products that form farming's backbone.

For the first time in 20 years, the average cost of marketing a motion picture declined in 1999, Motion Picture Assn. of America Chairman Jack Valenti said Tuesday. Although the decline isn't huge--$780,000, bringing the total to $24.5 million--it combines with lower production costs to bring the average total cost of producing and marketing a movie down by almost $2 million, Valenti said.

A series of economic statistics released Thursday reinforced fears that the nation may be heading into a recession. A monthly survey of manufacturing activity hit its lowest level since the 1982 recession, housing and office construction posted its biggest decline in nearly nine years, the rate of business failures rose ominously and farm production costs surged. Taken together, the statistics provided fresh evidence that the nation is on the brink of recession.

Northrop, responding to criticism of its B-2 stealth bomber program, defended the program Friday by saying that production costs for the aircraft have "remained stable" and its quality is "high." Northrop was answering critical comments by the Pentagon's former chief of procurement, Robert B. Costello, who in an interview Thursday expressed "serious and grave concerns" about soaring costs and quality-control problems with the B-2. Costello, who resigned his Pentagon post last week, said his concerns about the B-2 program were so serious that he had tried unsuccessfully to have the program killed.

In a cavernous building in Long Beach where 2,500 mechanics and engineers assemble the Boeing 717 aircraft, a 2-foot-tall bell sits silently atop a balcony. The bell, which sounds whenever a plane is sold, has tolled rarely, and instead has become a stark reminder of the airplane's uncertain future. But this month, Boeing Co. launched an ambitious plan that could brighten the outlook on the factory floor.

Defense company TRW Inc. on Tuesday raised the curtain on a new business venture in Hollywood, bringing its expertise in top-secret communications to movie making and television production. TRW, known for high-tech electronics used in fighter jets, said it has formed a unit called Picture PipeLine to offer high-speed communications that enable directors in remote locations to work on film or videotape with editors and broadcasters in Los Angeles. Warner Bros.

The number of big-budget feature films produced in Canada has nearly doubled since the Canadian government began offering generous tax credits three years ago, according to a study released Wednesday. About one-third of all feature films in North America were produced in Canada last year, according to the study commissioned by Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, which hosts TV and film productions.