TERM I 2003-2004
GROUP 2
11. WARS BENEFIT ECONOMIES: CRITIQUE
PREPARED FOR
PROFESSOR TAN SWEE LIANG
PREPARED BY
CHIN WENYING
JEREMY PHUA JUN HAN
FOO CHEE WENG DESMOND
28 OCTOBER 2003
When President Bush announced his decision to invade Iraq, one cannot help but wonder if his goal was to remove Saddam's regime, or to boost America's economy.
Dwight Eisenhower once said, every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies not a theft from those who hunger, not fed, nor clothed. It provides for these people, generating money to feed and clothe them. This world in arms is not just spending money alone - it is also generating economic growth.
When we talk about the economy, we are essentially looking at the consumer spending, government spending, investments, and net exports. Benefits to the economy can be measured through growth in the GDP. The immediate benefits will be reflected in the GDP.
To many people, war is synonymous with destruction, chaos and bloodshed. Essentially, war is a major cause for the loss of countless lives and destructions of important infrastructures. However, many people do not realize that war can actually be beneficial to economies.
During a period of war, there is a need to produce weapons of war.
The pre-war preparations for World War 2 brought Germany out of an economic slump. After World War One, Germany’s economy was in shambles. By the treaty of Versailles, Germany found herself in a war debt as well as a war torn country. The sudden demobilization of troops as demanded by the Treaty of Versailles resulted in an exceedingly large labour force. Inflation was extremely high, and there was simply little or no motivation for workers to work. Moreover, many of the factories were destroyed and roads damaged during the war. Unlike present day where the United States stepped in with funding to rebuild Iraq, Germany was pretty much left to fend for herself.
One of the