Gordon Adams

Defence spending and the American economy

At the end of the 1980s, lagging innovation, low productivity, spiralling public and private debt, crumbling infrastructure and competitiveness problems indicated to many observers that the US economy was in decline. For some, such as Yale historian Paul Kennedy, these problems were linked to high levels of defence spending. The argument that there is a link between defence spending and economic ills is not new. Since the beginning of the Cold War there has been recurrent concern that defence spending systematically hampers economic growth by draining the economy of capital and human resources critical to growth and by weakening the civilian economys capacity for innovation and productivity. The proof of the pudding, according to this argument, is that major international competitors such as Japan and West Germany, who do not devote as large a proportion of their resources to defence, have outcompeted the United States on international markets. This article systematically reviews research and evidence on...

What is to be Done

It is now time to turn from theory to a brief consideration of practice—to ask the question, if something like the analysis given in the preceding chapters is correct, then what, if anything, does it demand that we do? At the end of chapter one, it was pointed out that, considered analytically, Holt’s works consist of three main components. First, they contain a positive or constructive account of what he considers the ‘best learning’, the sorts of conditions that promote such learning, and the sorts of conditions that are hostile to it. Secondly, they contain a critique of education, which is justified by appeal to the foregoing account of ‘best learning’. And thirdly, they contain a range of practical strategies, aimed at mitigating the problems of education (especially compulsory schooling) and maximising the opportunity of acquiring the ‘best learning’. This third component was of great significance to Holt. Although there is a sense in which Holt’s work is ‘utopian’, in that it criticises some foundational cultural assumptions and envisages a possible society that exists nowhere, he is, at the same time, a deeply practical, realistic thinker. He does not offer airy plans for grand social reconstruction, addressed to nobody in particular; rather, he tries to answer the question of what can be done by us, here and now. In the words of one of his book titles, he wants to answer the question: What do I do Monday?

Defense Dilemmas in the 1990s

I T h e new administration has inherited a troubling defense legacy. The Reagan administration left behind a defense program that cannot be enacted without significant real growth in defense budgets and spending during the first half of the 1990s, but there is little prospect for such growth. It is more likely that defense budgets will not grow at all for several years, and they may even fail to keep pace with inflation. It should be possible to meet U.S. national security requirements without any growth in defense spending. Defense spending has grown 40 percent after inflation since Fiscal Year (FY) 1980, reaching unprecedented peacetime levels. If spending were to decline as much as three percent after inflation each year until FY 1994, it would still be higher, in constant dollars, than in any peacetime year prior to FY 1983. High spending levels alone, however, will not guarantee a strong defense. Security needs will be better served by sound defense policies and a longterm plan that matches programs to realistic projections of resources. In the absence of such planning, U.S. defense capabilities could erode, even with a continuation of high levels of defense spending. If the new administration simply tries to proceed with the program that it has inherited, a growing share of the defense budget will be consumed by expensive new weapons that will not be purchased in adequate amounts, while force structure contracts, and readiness and sustainability decline. If the United States is to achieve military security at lower cost in the 1990s, tough choices must be made. Some programs will have to be cancelled or deferred, while less expensive solutions to military problems are sought. A proper balance must be struck among the size of military forces, their level of readiness and sustainability, and the rate at which military hardware is modernized. Choices must be guided by a reexamination of global U.S. security policies and commitments, especially towards the Soviet Union and Western Europe.

Economic conversion misses the point

Twenty-five years of efforts to convert military industries to civilian pursuits have borne little fruit. To reverse this pattern will require addressing local concerns in the broad context of federal economic and national security planning.

What do weapons secure

The iron triangle of the Defense Department, Congressional hawks, and the defense industry will fight any efforts to reduce President Reagans plan to rearm America and will dominate any debate over national security and weapons procurement as they have done since 1945. American attitudes are changing, however, and pressing for a re-evaluation of this closed policy apparatus. The first step to be taken is a re-examination of global and national realities to see if current policy is appropriate. Reagan has reversed the trend toward arms control to more strategic arms competition which, by creating waste and distrust, will reduce security. It also narrows policy considerations to East-West rivalry and ignores the North-South changes that are taking place. US failures in Vietnam and Watergate and a negative response to US involvement in Central America are signs that the public is increasingly skeptical of the iron triangle. (DCK)

Military spending boosts the deficit

Propelled by strategic weapons, the growing military portion of the budget is sending the federal deficit to unprecedented levels. Even greater increases are planned for future years.

Congress begins the debate

The Reagan Administrations 1984 budget includes large increases in military spending, and the full effects will not be felt for several years. The impact of widespread congressional opposition remains to be seen.

From the Bulletin

The Constitutional Court of Lithuania, holding the Presidency of the Conference of European Constitutional Courts, asked the Venice Commission to produce a working document on the topic chosen by the Conference for its Congress in June 2008, the “Problems of Legislative Omission in Constitutional Jurisprudence”. In co-operation with the Conference, the Commission publishes this working document together with the General Report of the Congress as a special issue of the Bulletin on Constitutional CaseLaw.

Reagan's 1988 military budget

The Reagan administrations military budget for fiscal 1988 emphasizes strategic weapons systems at the expense of combat readiness. But budgetary and national security concerns will lead Congress to take a very close look at the proposals.

Recasting the military spending debate

While military spending is not neutral, its economic impact is neither as dramatically positive as claimed by the Defense Department nor as uniformly negative as its critics argue.