Tuesday, December 2, 2008
A New War Would NOT Help the Economy
Maybe you've heard it . . . people whispering that we need a good war to rescue our economy.
You know that the hawks are whispering it into Obama and Bush's ears. Someone I've known for years even said it to me the other day.
But would a war really help the economy?
A War Would Devastate What is Left of the Economy
A war would actually devastate what is left of our economy.
Initially, the Iraq war will end up costing at least $3 trillion. That didn't help the economy, did it? We're still in that war, but our economy has tanked.
Moreover, the bailout is costing more (even after adjusting for inflation) than the Marshall Plan, Louisiana Purchase, moonshot, S&L bailout, Korean War,
In addition, contrary to popular belief, the reason that WWII stimulated the U.S. economy was not because of America fighting the war. Instead, America producing arms for the British before the U.S. entered the war was the thing which stimluated our economy.
Finally, wars which do not produce a quick victory actually devestate the economy. As a PhD economist explains:
"War always causes recession. Well, if it is a very short war, then it may stimulate the economy in the short-run. But if there is not a quick victory and it drags on, then wars always put the nation waging war into a recession and hurt its economy."
Can America go beat up some poorly-armed country to get a quick war?
Its unlikely. Given that the entire world knows that the U.S. started the Iraq war based on false pretenses, and that the U.S. has tried to expand its empire at the expense of everyone else, even a war against a small, poorly-armed and resource-poor country would be considered a proxy war. Therefore, the other heavily-armed countries would fight the U.S. through local proxies, and the war would drag on.
For all of the above-described regions, a new war would NOT help the economy. It would finish it off.
2 comments:
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Wars destroy capital and lives. It's comparable to shoveling $100 bills into a fire.
ReplyDeleteThink, just think, what we could do with the 700 billion slated to go to the defense department this year.
beebs
anarchist
antiwar pacifist.
There might have been a time in our history when a good ole fashioned war may have helped us economically. But as the saying goes," the Love of money..." Our souls have been mortgaged to the capitalists and it appears that our very lives aren't far behind. As beebs alluded in his post, just think of all the things that could have been done with all the money that we have allowed our government to spend killing other people in order to prop up our economy. From WWI to now and even into the future, all the trillions wasted could easily have built a home for every citizen and his/her family in the country. Not only built the houses but the building of those would have provided jobs for millions. How about providing a car for every one? Again jobs, and anyone could own more than one car, but the first one would be free. And on and on. Health care which is often derailed because we can't 'afford' it. Well you know what? After all these bailuts, I don't ever want to hear that argument against health care again. the first politician to utter it as a way of arguing against it should automatically be taken out and shot. Then be tarred and feathered. And made to pay for his own funeral. Trillions upon trillions upon trillions for war and Wall Street but crumbs for the People. Just say NO MORE!
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