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Why Does the US Spend So Much Money on the Military?
In the newest episode of America: From Republic to Empire, we look at the warnings of Dwight Eisenhower and how World War II gave birth to the military-industrial complex. In one of the most important addresses ever given by an American president, Eisenhower warns about the dangerous economic incentives war creates by enriching big business and growing the state at the expense of the rest of the nation.
What Eisenhower was really warning about was the threat posed by military Keynesianism. In the wake of the Great Depression, FDR and most political leaders in the West adopted the economic fallacies promoted by John Maynard Keynes. These policies lingered on through World War II and its aftermath to create a new class of intellectuals who defended the virtues of government spending at the expense of the productive, private sector. The growing American empire had truly gained an important ally.
Over half a century later, the American people remain victims of the military-industrial complex, with Washington spending more on the military than the next nine countries combined. The empire and military contracts get bigger, and Americans are left footing the bill.
Click here to catch up on America: From Republic to Empire, a nine-part animated series on how US foreign policy fuels the growth of the state.
This project was made possible by the generosity of Jim Kluttz.
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