Capital, Labor, and the Spoils of War

In: Journal of peace research, Volume 17, Issue 2, p. 103-117

Abstract

The article deals with certain political and economic consequences of recent American war involvements. It is found that the nation's economy experienced particularly pronounced surges of growth during wartime and certain implications of this fact for both Keynesian and Marxian doctrine are discussed. It is further demonstrated that, contrary to much conven tional wisdom, labor rather than business derived the greatest gains from U.S. military interventions abroad - a finding which, while perhaps counterintuitive, can be explained by the joint exigencies of politics and economics in wartime. Finally, while economic con siderations may not have influenced the decisions to initiate foreign intervention, it is sug gested that they may well have affected the subsequent expansion and duration of military involvement.