multipliers, 'make work', marriage, etc.

Dennis Robert Redmond dredmond at efn.org
Mon Sep 3 02:27:06 PDT 2001


On Sun, 2 Sep 2001, Forstater, Mathew wrote:


> 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



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