The Lack of Major Wars May Be Hurting Economic Growth

deisik

legendary

Activity: 3514

Merit: 1280

English ⬄ Russian Translation Services

Quote from: bryant.coleman on June 16, 2014, 11:02:28 AM

Quote from: Ekaros on June 16, 2014, 10:54:22 AM

Russia-USA war would probably improve economic growth... Net positivity, maybe not.

a Russia-USA war would improve the economy of China. It will destroy the economies of both Russia and the United States. Remember the WW2. The US emerged as a world power after ~~WW2~~ WW1, because it limited its participation in the battle for the initial 3-4 years.

Another correction made! Cool

The USA had been heavily crediting its allies during WW1 and earned a heap of money and power (read John Keynes' work "The Economic Consequences of the Peace" if you are curious)... Roll Eyes

keyscore44

legendary

Activity: 2002

Merit: 1016

An apt movie for this thread Wink

bryant.coleman

legendary

Activity: 3752

Merit: 1217

Quote from: Ekaros on June 16, 2014, 10:54:22 AM

Russia-USA war would probably improve economic growth... Net positivity, maybe not.

a Russia-USA war would improve the economy of China. It will destroy the economies of both Russia and the United States. Remember the WW2. The US emerged as a world power after WW2, because it limited its participation in the battle for the initial 3-4 years.

Quote from: deisik on June 16, 2014, 10:49:46 AM

Corrected... Grin

lol... classic.

Ekaros

hero member

Activity: 728

Merit: 500

Quote from: bryant.coleman on June 16, 2014, 10:46:59 AM

Quote from: TaunSew on June 16, 2014, 10:23:12 AM

Small amount. There's $97 trillion investments. Spending $5 trillion over a decade is nothing

Wow... then I was wrong perhaps. Grin

Let the war machine continue to roll. War with Iraq cost $4 trillion. The war with Iran is going to cost some $40 trillion. And Hillary's adventure with Russia is going to cost some $400 trillion.

Russia-USA war would probably improve economic growth... Net positivity, maybe not.

acs267

hero member

Activity: 644

Merit: 500

I guess. But let's be honest, most countries want wars so they can get more funding from the people. And to get more land on foreign or their own soil, to show who the true champ is.

deisik

legendary

Activity: 3514

Merit: 1280

English ⬄ Russian Translation Services

Quote from: bryant.coleman on June 16, 2014, 10:46:59 AM

Quote from: TaunSew on June 16, 2014, 10:23:12 AM

Small amount. There's $97 trillion investments. Spending $5 trillion over a decade is nothing

Wow... then I was wrong perhaps. Grin

Let the war machine continue to roll. War with Iraq cost $4 trillion. The war with Iran is going to cost some $40 trillion. And Hillary's adventure with Russia is going to cost some 400 trillion roubles.

Corrected... Grin

bryant.coleman

legendary

Activity: 3752

Merit: 1217

Quote from: TaunSew on June 16, 2014, 10:23:12 AM

Small amount. There's $97 trillion investments. Spending $5 trillion over a decade is nothing

Wow... then I was wrong perhaps. Grin

Let the war machine continue to roll. War with Iraq cost $4 trillion. The war with Iran is going to cost some $40 trillion. And Hillary's adventure with Russia is going to cost some $400 trillion.

deisik

legendary

Activity: 3514

Merit: 1280

English ⬄ Russian Translation Services

Quote from: niothor on June 15, 2014, 01:24:35 PM

Read the article twice and the opinions above and I don't understand how they can claim that a major war will help economic growth

It helps those who don't participate in it (or don't suffer badly from it). Remember who gained most from the last two world wars? Cool

TaunSew

hero member

Activity: 756

Merit: 506

Small amount. There's $97 trillion investments. Spending $5 trillion over a decade is nothing

A real total war would have to spend a quadrillion or more. Half million tanks, 100K+ aircraft, aircraft carriers, think WW2 scale of production.

bryant.coleman

legendary

Activity: 3752

Merit: 1217

Going by their argument, the Iraq war, which cost some $4-5 trillion would have propelled the economy to new heights? Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't see the US economy gaining anything from the Iraq / Afghan wars. Might have benefited the oil companies, gas pipeline construction firms, private security contractors.etc. But that is it. No one else gained from it.

Charlie Prime

sr. member

Activity: 406

Merit: 250

Quote from: Ekaros on June 16, 2014, 06:48:00 AM

War leads to investment in research, development and industry. That is how it improves economic growth... On other hand also, rebuilding increase economic growth...

You neglected to read the link above: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_window_fallacy

Ekaros

hero member

Activity: 728

Merit: 500

War leads to investment in research, development and industry. That is how it improves economic growth... On other hand also, rebuilding increase economic growth...

Later one is wasteful, first one could be done. No one is suggesting that we bomb a few major cities and then rebuild those... That would be much more humane and cheaper anyway than a real war.

sana8410

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

Quote from: zolace on June 16, 2014, 06:17:34 AM

One important point of the article is that war is good for innovation. In war, people unite around common goals, and are willing to sacrifice in a way that is impossible in peacetime.

One might attribute this to the willingness to abolish patents in wartime, like the American airplane industry was forced to do during the first world war. Since the state is the one concerned with fighting the war, and the state is the only actor effectively able to abolish patents (since the state is the one granting them in the first place), it is not odd that war is the only thing which can effect this change.
It has been argued that patents, as a whole, is a retardant to innovation. These historical facts seems to bear this argument out.
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers_patent_war

zolace

sr. member

Activity: 364

Merit: 250

One important point of the article is that war is good for innovation. In war, people unite around common goals, and are willing to sacrifice in a way that is impossible in peacetime.

beetcoin

sr. member

Activity: 434

Merit: 250

the "defense" industry is large. republicans want to increase it to an even higher number, but i don't think that's going to happen any time soon. war is just a way of spending money, and when you can influence who wins the govt contracts, you make money that way. there are so many ways you can profit from war.

niothor

hero member

Activity: 826

Merit: 501

in defi we trust

Read the article twice and the opinions above and I don't understand how they can claim that a major war will help economic growth.

There is one thing a major war might help. Development in technology and the last ww2 showed that.
But the price is far too high for that and no sane people should think about this "solution".

tinof

full member

Activity: 343

Merit: 100

That is because military complex is the only productive industry left in US.

joshraban76

sr. member

Activity: 252

Merit: 250

I can't find how is this valid ?

It's, but only in creating super duper weapons to kill innocents.

What is the joy of wars ? To see Medal of Honor or Red Alert live on TV ?

Jamie_Boulder

sr. member

Activity: 378

Merit: 250

Quote from: noviapriani on June 14, 2014, 09:07:31 AM

Basically, war gives the government an excuse for raising wages which is what leads to economic growth, at least in terms of rising living standards. Of course, the elites have to feel threatened enough or at least bribed enough to play along, at least for the duration. To be effective, the war has to require a fair bit of industrial production and large enough armies and long enough duration to have an impact on the workforce, which is why our most recent small scale wars have had little or negative impact.

Raising taxes*

validium

sr. member

Activity: 350

Merit: 250

Decentralized thinking

Quote from: sana8410 on June 14, 2014, 08:35:44 AM

War does not increase wealth, it transfers it to a few, with much attendant damage and destruction that diminishes the whole.

At one time it was inconceivable that economic growth could exist without slavery. So too with war and all other non-productive forms of economic activity. Given the cleverness with which men destroy each other there may be innovations with other applications, but on the whole the result is pain, misery, and deprivation for most.

And those few bankers are the biggest earners. I think there are better ways to make money like innovation, science etc. And the guys that write this articles are full of sh** Angry

Topic: The Lack of Major Wars May Be Hurting Economic Growth (Read 1200 times)