In this photo released by the Israeli military on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023, shows ground operation inside the Gaza Strip Looking to sell Americans on $106 billion in new spending on foreign wars, President Biden and senior Republicans have adopted a political approach: America’s defense industry needs the customers.
And that means coming up with answers for a public still scorched by the global war on terror and increasingly fed up with the U.S. effort in Ukraine. “In a full-employment economy, the effect on GDP is roughly zero because every dollar that government is spending on these munitions, for instance, is one less dollar the private sector is spending. And this is because every dollar the government injects into the economy must be taxed or borrowed out of the economy,” he said.“If government investment in defense weaponry is pro-growth then so would government investment in all kinds of industries liberals support,” Mr. Riedl.
It’s not as if the defense industry has been lagging. The U.S. sold some $200 billion in weaponry to the world last year. Much of it went to democracies, but not all.And being the world’s arsenal hasn’t always worked out.