>
>WW II got the U.S. out of the depression because of truly massive military
>spending. Here's the military share of GDP for the war years:
>
>>
You left out a crucial point. WWII military spending was hugely labor intensive. Car factories were converted to tank and bomber plants or churned out trucks and jeeps. Vast quantities og guns, ammo, artillery, and ordinance were built, putting steel to work in a big way. And so forth. Modern military spending is capital intensive--not just because of increased productivity, but because modern forces are high tech. Even if military spending were to shoot up to Vietnam War, Korean War or even WWII levels, it wouldn't have the same sort of Keynesian effect involved in literally putting the country back to work.
jks
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