

Readers' comments



So good and true, KAL. The US won't stop preaching about "free market" and maligning government intromission, but when it comes to defense, the US is the most wastefully keynesian aberration ever conceived. How can Americans accept that so much of their taxes go to this imperial war machine, when they don't even have proper healthcare?

Good old Chalmers Johnson explained it perfectly in this article:



One great place to start is the $20 billion a year defending Germany. And several billions more wasted on Italy, the UK, Spain and NATO. The total savings could be as high as $50 billion in Eurozone alone. The US should also pull all troops out of Okinawa and South Korea in total. They can fend for themselves, or not.


This is all very true, but how do you actually force the Pentagon to tighten its belt? Both defense contractors and many high-ranking officers are sure to fight back, the Republican party will most certainly seize the opportunity to accuse the administration of jeopardizing national security, and even some Democratic lawmakers might find it hard to press for cutbacks that could lead to job losses in their districts and lower campaign contributions.
It's a tough riddle indeed! Ike knew what he was talking about!

Matías O.J.

We all knew this was coming. Apparently it has finally dawned on some that having a military budget larger than the rest of the world's combined on a country not actually waging all-out war is a terrible waste.

What's funny is that during the cold-war, a ridiculously large military budget was a US stratagem to lure an economically weaker USSR into an arms-race they wouldn't be able to afford.

Hoisted by their own petard, I guess.


Its the same in Russia.................
The military-industrial complex in the USA rules OK. Where would companies such as Boeing or Lockheed or Raytheon be without DOD orders????


Surely the Americans know what si the belt, but not millitary businessmen. Having profited so much from weapons sold to their enymies' enymies, they benifit both from the politics and money.


I fear that if the fat officer finds his belt and tightens it, he'll burst. So you can't do anything to the military!

An Drew

The good old Hawk-Dove debate is something and a push for efficiency is something else that budget cuts can help.

Joe the Reader

If you, and that's true, can comply with government's requirements and paperwork, as a contractor you can charge them whatever you want. So that's how the system works.


Thank you economist for the caricature
and thanks also for the little blurb.
Maybe someday all this wasteful spending will be over. It won't be in 2010 or 11, but someday and then we can focus here at home on what's actually important.


The US currently has more generals and other senior officers now than it did at the height of WWII when the Defense Department was more than 10 times the current size.


ok ok, from WW2 to Vietnam there was this urge for the beast to bloat. More than a decade after Vietnam the Cold War is over. More than two decades after Vietnam it is time to wonder why? More than three decades after the Cold War is over it is time to sack the politicians who demand change, but simply cannot.


What makes me sad is that things like nuclear fusion can be developed for a fraction of a percentage of the annual military budget.

So much can be done, but the money is wasted on bureaucracy and lining the pockets of defense companies.


Surely the US military knows what a belt is. It is an item that normally retails for less than $100, but shows up on a procurement contract as $10,000.

Canadian Thunder

There are so many sub-contractors that have become small time millionairs by virtue of their cost plus contracts with the military, it's almost a joke.

To be capable is paramount especially in a dangerous world where multiple threats are mounting and challenging Western dominance. But do let's be smart about it.

There is so much fat and waste that it should be rich picking for anyone with the daring to enter this garden with the lowest hanging fruit around.

With Gates we have te right man. Goodluck!


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