Thursday, November 18, 2010

Do the math

All the current concern about the deficit could be considerably allayed by a simple move - cut defense spending. It amounts to 23% of our budget and is more than the defense spending of all other nations combined. Yes, there are jobs in the defense industry that would be lost, but this loss can be more than made up by investing in bringing our infrastructure up to snuff (It now receives a grade of D by civil engineers) and by returning to an economy where real R&D is practiced.

Back in January a number of specialists in security and defense economics wrote to the Deficit Reduction Commission. Some of their recommendations were:
  • Focus on defense and deterrence rather than trying to change the world.
  • Reduce our combat power in line with today's world.
  • Bring the troops home from all over the world.
  • Have the courage to cancel expensive weapons systems whose capabilities in today's world are suspect.
  • Manage better.

What's wrong with these recommendations?

1 comment:

R J Adams said...

What's wrong with the recommendations? They make perfect sense - that's what's wrong with them.