Abstract
Following ten years during which military spending in the United States at first diminished and then remained stable, it has rapidly increased since the advent of the Ronald Reagan administration. And a further acceleration during the next several years is projected. It would probably be erroneous, however, to consider the American rearmament programme as being closely connected with the Reagan administration and destined to follow its fate or fortune. The present writer believes it rather to be a part of a large-scale US strategy aimed at regaining international hegemony. It is thus unlikely to undergo fundamental modifications in the foreseeable future, regardless of the administration in power.
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Notes
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIP RI Yearbook, 1982 (Stockholm, 1982) p. 109.
See Massimo Pivetti, Armamenti ed Economia (Milan, 1969).
P. A. Samuelson, Economics (New York, 1973) p. 824.
See N. Kaldor, Causes of the Slow Rate of Economic Growth of the United Kingdom (London, 1966) section IV.
M. Kalecki, ‘Political Aspects of Full Employment’ (1943) republished in Kalecki , Selected Essays in the Dynamics of the Capitalist Economy, 1953–1970 (London, 1971).
Pivetti, Armamenti; Massimo Pivetti (ed.), Armamenti o Disoccupazione (Milan, 1969); and M. Reich, ‘Does the US Economy Require Military Spending?’, The American Economic Review (May 1972).
J. M. Cypher, ‘La Strategia Economica dal Riarmo Americano’, Monthly Review (Italian Edition) (May–June 1982); and Nations Unies, Les Consequences Economiques et Sociales de la Course aux Armaments et des Depenses Militaires (New York, 1978).
L. C. Thurow, ‘The Relationship between Defense-related and Civilian-orientated Research and Development Priorities’ in Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Priorities and Efficiency in Federal Research and Development (Washington, DC, 1976).
Recent writing by two British economists seems to provide particularly representative examples of this tendency. See M. Bleaney, Underconsumption Theories (London, 1976); and R. P. Smith, ‘Military Expenditure and Capitalism’, Cambridge Journal of Economics (March 1977); ‘Military Expenditure and Capitalism: A Reply’, ibid. (September 1978); and ‘Military Expenditure and Investment in OECD Countries, 1954–1973’, Journal of Comparative Economics (1980).
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© 1988 International School on Disarmament and Research on Conflicts, Tenth Course
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Pivetti, M. (1988). The Impact of Rearmament on the American Economy. In: Carlton, D., Schaerf, C. (eds) The Arms Race in the Era of Star Wars. Studies in Disarmament and Conflicts. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-06988-0_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-06988-0_5
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