Hi KastelCo,
I'd like to know how much GDP is generated by military and homeland security spending coming from the taxpayer because that certainly skews the story in my book
That factor had me concerned as well, until a friend pointed out to me that every single down cycle in military spending has always been replaced by an up cycle in spending elsewhere.
Every single war, conflict, etcetera has been closely followed by a shift in spending to other areas. Governments concentrate on rebuilding infrastructure such as roads, restocking shelves (such as military defense, as opposed to weapons of offense), constructing bridges, work in national parks, work in areas of free trade and so on.
Corporate spending resumes in much the same way, first by rebuilding inventories and then into rebuilding corporate infrastructure, and finally new product research and development.
Private consumer spending follows a similar pattern, which is to reduce overall debt, followed by improvement in lifestyle, such as a new home (or home remodeling), simple consumer spending (like clothes), taking that long delayed vacation, etcetera...
Defense spending and conflict spending seem to displace monies that would have been used elsewhere. When the threat is over, or the conflict ends, then the displaced monies return to their original patterns...
At least that's what history seems to indicate...
KJC |
