guns and butter image

The Economics of War and Militarism


Articles from Dollars & Sense:

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  • Palestine olives thumb

    Palestine’s Golden Oil

    By Sam Bahour | March/April 2012

    Underneath much of the Middle East lies the world’s oil supply. In one special place in the Middle East, a different type of oil reigns supreme: olive oil. Read more »



  • Dancs thumb

    The True Cost of Oil

    By Anita Dancs | May/June 2010

    Oil creates huge costs because of pollution and global warming. But how much more do we, as taxpayers, have to pay for the U.S. military to secure and defend “our” oil? Read more »



  • missile

    Synergy in Security

    By Tom Barry | March/April 2010

    The military-industrial complex has morphed into a new type of public-private partnership that might be better called a “national security complex.” Read more »



  • tank

    Is Military Keynesianism the Solution?

    By Heidi Garrett-Peltier | March/April 2010

    At a time when unemployment in the domestic economy remains near 10%, it may seem convenient to fall back on the principle of military Keynesianism: War is good for the economy. But it’s not. Read more »



  • guns vs. butter

    Fewer Guns! More Butter!

    By Jill Mazzetta and Tillman Clark | March/April 2010

    Mainstream media outlets have amplified the right-wing-populism du jour to the point where if the Tea Party phenomenon wasn’t a mass movement to begin with, it stands a chance of becoming one. What about left organizing? You might not hear about it on cable news, but there is plenty going on. Read more »


  • Dr. Dollar

    Empire and Entitlements

    By Arthur MacEwan | January/February 2010

    In his book Colossus (2004), Niall Ferguson argues that a major problem with Social Security and Medicare is their underfunded liabilities—to the tune of $45 trillion. Can you comment on this claim? Read more »



  • Morrissey thumb

    War Spending Placed Above Domestic Priorities

    By Monique Morrissey | November/December 2007

    The Bush administration has asked for significant increases in both war appropriations and regular defense appropriations for fiscal year ’08. If Congress agrees to these requests, defense spending will resume its upward climb to between 4.3% and 5.0% of GDP in 2008. Read more »


  • bacon thumb

    Iraqi Workers Strike to Keep their Oil

    By David Bacon | September/October 2007

    The Bush administration has no love for unions anywhere, but in Iraq it has a special reason for hating them. They are the main opposition to the occupation’s economic agenda, and the biggest obstacle to that agenda’s centerpiece—the privatization of Iraq’s oil. Read more »


  • Greg Palast image

    Muckraking Around the Globe

    An Interview with Greg Palast | May/June 2007

    The BBC investigative journalist tells us about two radically different plans for Iraq within the Bush administration, the neo-cons' versus Big Oil’s. Read more »



  • Vieques image

    In Vieques, Puerto Rico, La Lucha Continua

    By Liv Gold | November/December 2011

    Vieques, a small island seven miles off the coast of Puerto Rico, was a U.S. aerial weapons testing ground for over 50 years and the site of decades of struggle. The Navy finally deactivated it in 2003, and now Carribean Edge magazine is marketing Vieques as a hot new tourist destination. Read more »


  • War costs thumb

    U.S. Military Spending and the Cost of the Wars

    By Chris Sturr | July/August 2006

    The U.S. government is accelerating military spending even apart from its actual wars. Read more »




  • Star Wars thumb

    Space Wars

    An Interview with Bruce Gagnon | March/April 2004

    The administration’s proposal for human space exploration is designed to project U.S. military power into the skies. Read more »



  • Iraq War profiteers thumb

    The Real Winners

    By Todd Tavares | July/August 2003

    Even as bombs were raining down on Baghdad, a short list of private beneficiaries was being drawn up behind closed doors. Here are the firms that benefited most from the reconstruction largesse. In fact, they may be the war’s real winners. Read more »


  • Soldiers thumb

    In Harm’s Way

    By Rodney Ward | May/June 2003

    On any number of dimensions, the war in Iraq is hurting working people back home. The U.S. soldiers who return will find their benefits slashed and their prospects limited by continuing economic stagnation. The massive cost of the war and occupation robs resources from those who can least afford it and exacerbates federal and state budget crises. Read more »

  • Oil War thumb

    Is It Oil?

    By Arthur MacEwan | May/June 2003

    Is it oil and not weapons of mass destruction that motivates the U.S. government’s aggressive policy towards Iraq? Read more »



  • War on the Earth thumb

    War on the Earth

    By Bob Feldman | March/April 2003

    The U.S. Department of Defense is the world’s largest polluter. (Winner of a Project Censored award for one of the top 25 censored stories of 2004.) Read more »



  • guns and butter thumb

    Military Spending: Boon or Bane to the Economy? Two Views

    By David Gold and James M. Cypher | July/August 2002

    Fewer Jobs, Slower Growth: Military Spending Drains the Economy | A Prop, Not a Burden: The U.S. Economy Relies on Militarism | Order this issue or subscribe.



  • Military madness thumb

    Return of The Iron Triangle

    By James M. Cypher | January/February 2002

    The post-September 11 era of military spending will allow the Pentagon to have its cake and eat it too—continuing major Cold War-era weapons systems and funding the cyber-age “Revolution in Military Affairs” (RMA). Read more »