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Store: An Independent Institute Book
4 Figures • 16 Tables
© 1990 |
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ARMS, POLITICS, AND THE ECONOMY
Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
Edited by
Robert Higgs
Foreword by
William A. Niskanen
Prior to World War II, the United States maintained insignificant military forces and weapons manufacturing industries during peace. But the weapons industry that has grown since the end of World War II inhabits an ill-defined zone between genuine private enterprise and complete government planning. Does this unprecedented military-industrial-congressional complex efficiently serve the public’s interest in national security?
In this book, eleven contributing scholars analyze such questions as whether overall military spending is too high or too low, why the military procurement system remains impervious to reform, and how special interests exploit the system.
This book does not leave readers with simple solutions; depoliticizing defense spending and eliminating military procurement mismanagement will not be easy. But this book does lay the foundation of understanding to help necessary reforms take place.
Detailed Summary |
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Contributors
Robert Higgs, William A. Niskanen, Jordan A. Schwarz, Dwight R. Lee, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, Don Lavoie, William E. Kovacic, Ilan Peleg, Frank R. Lichtenberg, James M. Lindsay, Kenneth R, Mayer, and Charlotte Twight. Table of Contents
- Foreword: The Political Economy of U.S. Defense
- Introduction: Fifty Years of Arms, Politics, and the Economy
- Chapter 1: Baruch, the New Deal and Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex
- Chapter 2: Public Goods, Politics, and Two Cheers for the Military-Industrial Complex
- Chapter 3: National Defense and the Public-Goods Problem
- Chapter 4: Blue Ribbon Defense Commissions—The Acquisition of Major Weapons Systems
- Chapter 5: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice—Public Regulation of the Weapons Acquisition Process
- Chapter 6: Models of Arms Transfer in American Foreign Policy—Carter’s Restraint and Reagan’s Promotion, 1977-1987
- Chapter 7: Contributions to Federal Election Campaigns by Government Contractors
- Chapter 8: Congress and the Defense Budget—Parochialism or Policy?
- Chapter 9: Patterns of Congressional Influence in Defense Contracting
- Chapter 10: Department of Defense Attempts to Close Military Bases—The Political Economy of Congressional Resistance
Praise for Arms, Politics, and the Economy “Arms, Politics and the Economy is not the ordinary book on defense policy, procedures, and practices. It is a major chronicle and critique of the defense establishment, a virtual catalog of the defense business. The book is immensely informative and makes rare sense of the ‘military-industrial-congressional complex.’ The authors’ judgments are shrewd and sound, and the essays are strikingly innovative and intellectually adventurous, and extraordinatrily well-crafted, sophisticated, and scholarly.”
—EARL C. RAVENAL, Distinguished Research Professor of International Affairs, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
“Arms, Politics and the Economy is an immensely timely book! As the international system changes, understanding the domestic political economy of military spending is more important than ever.”
—BRUCE M. RUSSETT, Professor of Political Science, Yale University
“Professor Higgs has performed a real service in presenting such a wide range of views on one of the most important issues now confronting the American people, and the Independent Institute’s timing in publishing it could not be better. Arms, Politics and the Economy is an important addition to your ‘must read’ list.”
—A. ERNEST FITZGERALD, Author, The High Priests of Waste and The Pentagonists
“Valuable reading for those interested in defense matters, Arms, Politics and the Economy cohers uncommonly well and is valuable reading for those interested in defense matters. Relatively free from jargon, it is also a useful introduction to public goods theory.”
—JOURNAL OF AMERICAN HISTORY About the Editor Robert Higgs is Senior Fellow in Political Economy and Editor of The Independent Review at The Independent Institute in Oakland, California. In addition to Arms, Politics and the Economy, his books include Crisis and Leviathan, The Transformation of the American Economy 1865-1914; Competition and Coercion; Hazardous to Our Health?; and Emergence of the Modern Political Economy.
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