Monday, August 9, 2010 It's a Killing Machine Economic Boom
Do you wonder how the government slips in those supposedly bullish data points about the economy, when everywhere you go you hear average people talking about how bad things are?
Answer: The American military is in a major growth mode.
According to the Commerce Department, on average, personal income dropped 1.8% in the U.S. in 2009. BUT, not all cities faced a downturn in personal income. Here are the cities that were the top gainers in personal income in 2009:
Jacksonville NC up 11.9% [Home of U.S. Marine Corps Base: Fort Lejeune]
Fayetville, NC up 4.8% [Home of U.S. Army Base: Ft Bragg]
Manhattan, KS up 4.8% [ Home of U.S. Army Base: Fort Riley]
Kileen-Temple-Fort Hood TX up 4.6% [Home of U.S. Army Base: Ft Hood]
Cumberland, MD up 4.4% [No obvious military connection]
Lawton, OK up 4.2% [Home of U.S. Army Base: Ft Sill]
Elizabethtown, KY up 4.2% [Home of military installation at Fort Knox] Posted by Robert Wenzel at 4:59 PM
Poster Comment:
I've heard people say that the war funding causes jobs. It does cause jobs. but it also kills the jobs that otherwise would've resulted from the same money being spent otherwise. War is a fundamentally destructive endeavor. We do not create prosperity for ourselves by engaging in it. If new money is created to fund war, then our economy may grow from that money being flushed into the economy through war spending. But the same spending of the same money on something else would be more beneficial. There has been an intellectual discussion in 'conservative' circles concerning a 'command' style economy and a 'market' style economy. We have a command style economy IMO.