Led astray by Marxist and Keynesian dogma, the literature on the origins of the permanent war economy has overlooked a leading cause of the elevated levels of U.S. military spending since the end of World War II: the economic rents created by the federal governments monopoly on national defense, and the pursuit of those rents by the labor, industry, and military lobbies. Although the permanent war economy benefits powerful special interest groups, it generates a significant negative externality by diverting resources from other, private uses.
The Origins of the Permanent War Economy
By Christopher J. Coyne, Thomas K. Duncan
This
article
appeared in
the Fall 2013 issue of The Independent Review.
American HistoryAntitrust, Competition, and MonopolyDefense and Foreign PolicyEconomic PolicyEconomyLabor and EmploymentLaw and LibertyRegulationTerrorism and Homeland Security
Other Independent Review articles by Christopher J. Coyne | ||
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Fall 2021 | Introduction: Symposium on the War on Terror at Twenty | |
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Other Independent Review articles by Thomas K. Duncan | |
Fall 2014 | Torpedo:Inventing the Military-Industrial Complex in the United States and Great Britain |