Open Left

Charting the militarization of the US economy. (Xcroc)

Durable goods shipments and orders, military and non-military, the charts tell the story. If spending on the military were reported the way spending on health care is reported, people would be asking some serious questions about this. One can certainly argue that public health and health in general is an equally important part of the defense of a country and its citizens, though I have not seen the argument framed in those terms.

the chart is interesting, but potentially deceptive, since it charts

the percent change since 2000, not the total levels.

for an interesting take on why the US spends so much on defense, check out Mandel's Late Capitalism.

by: seabrook @ Mon Aug 03, 2009 at 13:44:45 PM CDT

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good catch

on spending.

by: AliceDem @ Mon Aug 03, 2009 at 14:12:45 PM CDT

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I had a hell of a time posting these images earlier, so thanks for that.

Change
"We must break up the banks and never again let them get so big that they distort our politics and take down the economy.

by: HousesofProgress @ Mon Aug 03, 2009 at 15:47:14 PM CDT

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Running an Empire is Expensive

What, precisely, do we get for all that money spent?

What is the return on that investment?

Where is the outrage?

Where are the congress critters stamping their feet and calling for "fiscal responsibility"?

"It sounds wrong...
...but its right."

by: SpitBall @ Tue Aug 04, 2009 at 08:41:35 AM CDT

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excellent question

I think Vijay Prashad points us towards the answer with a phenomenon he describes in the Third World since World War II that has also happened in the US. Military expenditures went up as a portion of national budgets and as a proportion of GDP, domestic savings went down, along with drastic cuts in social spending. Eventually political perception shifted:

. . . security and defense had come to be reality, whereas social development became idealistic.
(The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World, ISBN 978-1-56584-785-9, p.174)

by: Xcroc @ Tue Aug 04, 2009 at 15:18:46 PM CDT

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