> infrastructure, etc.). military spending creates a multiplier but it is
> not as dynamic as other kinds of spending. other kinds of spending, like
> infrastructure, can increase productivity (number of studies showing
> this--Levy did some).
US military Keynesianism was very effective at powering the 1950-75 boom. Lots of what's classified as military spending is really basic R & D, science and research; military spending created Silicon Valley, the US software industry, and the US aerospace industry. Also, the military employs lots of unskilled workers, who wouldn't have much of a chance to go to school or pick up technical skills otherwise. The US economic decline is due more to savage class polarization, a lack of a welfare state, and a lack of long-term industrial policies, rather than military spending per se.
-- Dennis