When American Conservative Magazine and a senior Fellow of the Ludvig von Mises Institute collaborate to produce a dynamite article that builds on and reinforces the great work of my friend, the late Professor Seymour Melman of Columbia University, a card-carrying liberal, you know it is time to sit up and read it carefully.
Below is a an excellent article describing how the political economy of the Military – Industrial – Congressional Complex drains and distorts the civilian economy. Melman did the path breaking research in the 1950s and 1960s and 1970s and his warnings about deindustrialization were prophetic. No less an authority that William Anders, CEO of General Dynamics, confirmed Melman's warnings in spades, when Anders explained to a group of defense contractors in the 1991 why General Dynamics was not going to convert into civilian production after the cold war ended, because “most [weapons manufacturers] don’t bring a competitive ad-vantage to non-defense business,” … and … “Frankly, sword makers don’t make good and affordable plowshares.” [see The Domestic Roots of Perpetual War, pages 58-59 & footnotes 4 and 5.]
Chuck Spinney
Military spending drains and distorts the civilian economy.
By Thomas E. Woods Jr.
American Conservative, 1 March 2011
Phi Beta Iota: Summing up, we have military spending distorting the economy, Wall Street defrauding the economy, and a mix of politicians completely out of touch with reality and pretending to be “governing.” We can't make this stuff up.
