From World War I to the War on Terror, U.S. presidents have resorted to propaganda to mislead the American public into supporting military campaigns they believed were essential for national security. Public choice theory offers a powerful lens for seeing more clearly “why we fight.”

Chad W. Seagren is senior lecturer of economics in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School.
David R. Henderson is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, an Associate Professor of Economics at the Naval Postgraduate School, and a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Bureaucracy and GovernmentDefense and Foreign PolicyEuropeGovernment and PoliticsGovernment PowerGovernment SecrecyPolitical History
Other Independent Review articles by David R. Henderson
Fall 2016 An Economist’s Case for a Noninterventionist Foreign Policy
Winter 2015/16 The Economy in 2065: Predictions and Cautions
Spring 2015 A Philosophical Economist’s Case against a Government-Guaranteed Basic Income
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