Abstract
Defence spending diminishes consumption and also hampers development by draining investible funds. But its most harmful effect consists in the disarray of economic proportions. The present slowdown and high level of pollution may be attributed to the forced industrialisation and militarisation of the 1950s and 1960s. This kind of defence and industrial priority is counter-productive: though it may boost the economy for a shorter or longer stretch of time, it necessarily leads to crippled relationships, mismatches and growing economic, social and political tensions.
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Notes and References
Leontief, W. and Duchin, F., Military Spending: Facts, Figures, Worldwide Implications and Future Outlook (New York: Oxford University Press 1983).
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Cf. ‘Labour is not the source of all weath. Nature is just as much the source of use values (and it is surely as such that material wealth consists!) as is labour which itself is only the manifestation of a natural force, human labour power’, Marx, K. (1875) Critique of the Gotha Programme, English translation, edited by C. P. Dutt (New York: International Publishers).
For an illuminating analysis of the contingent nature of these results depending on the precise set of assumptions involved, see Chakravarty S. Capital and Development Planning (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1969);
See also Brody, A. Proportions, Prices and Planning (Amsterdam: North Holland, 1970),
and Marglin, S. A. Growth, Distribution and Prices (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1984).
Pasinetti, L. L. Structural Change and Economic Growth (Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1981).
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© 1987 International Economic Association
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Brody, A., Sen, A. (1987). Defence Spending as a Priority. In: Schmidt, C., Blackaby, F. (eds) Peace, Defence and Economic Analysis. International Economic Association Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18898-7_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18898-7_3
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