how does the war effect the economy

[riner69er]

I was told bey a friend that the war doe snot have an effect on the economy, that the housing bubble is to blame for our current situation.

I thought i read that usually in war times, inflation increases. If that's the case, then can the housing bubble be related to the war?

Someone smarter than I am help me out. the general question is - is the war responsible at all for our economic situation, and if so, how?

 

[Change]

send them to Ron Paul's Official Campaign Website, RonPaul2008.com and say, don't read it for your self, listen to it for yourself as Ron Paul addresses the CORE of the Republican party at the CPAC meeting.

Don't argue, just say, well are you interested in learning or watching Fox News.

 

[ceitniear]

Your friend is, at best uninformed, at worst delusional.

We've spent a trillion dollars that we don't have to prosecute this illegal and unconstitutional war, which means we've either borrowed the money from foreign countries or just printed the money up, which decreases the value of the dollar and drives up inflation.

 

[y2rayk]

this topic is discussed here and other places:

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/08/poll-to-fix-economy-get-out-of-iraq/

 

[riner69er]

what does the money we spend on the war go to?? I mean I do see my friends point that production is production, whether it's making guns or it's making butter. it's American companies making things and getting paid for them.

So.....where is he wrong there? I have a hunch that production is a small portion of the expense of the war.

 

[y2rayk]

A few points on the costs of the war is mentioned here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/10/AR2008021001820.html

There are more costs not mentioned in that article.

 

[Dark_Horse_Rider]

Just look at where the U.S. economy is right now since invading Iraq.

Some people just don't get it... KARMA 101... if you do things to cause harm to others, you will in turn be harmed.

 

[t3rmin]

You know what's really a bummer? These days we can have a war and the people don't hardly feel it. The government just borrows and prints money. No shortages, no rations, no sacrifice from the people. Of course eventually it could destroy us, but for now, people are complacent.

I guarantee if the government were forced to live within its means to finance this war, and there were metal shortages, rationing, and other sacrifices passed on to the people, the war would end FAST. So many people take it so casually. If they had to suffer, even a little bit, people wouldn't stand for it.

 

[DocMoose]

what does the money we spend on the war go to?? I mean I do see my friends point that production is production, whether it's making guns or it's making butter. it's American companies making things and getting paid for them.

So.....where is he wrong there? I have a hunch that production is a small portion of the expense of the war.

The question is not where the money is going but where it isn't going. Your friends are using the classic "Broken Window" excuse, which is seriously flawed. See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window


Also, it's not real money we're spending on the war. It's either borrowed, or printed. This compounds the problem. Creates inflation. Dollar falls. Middle class is squeezed out. So yes, the corporations making the bombs are benefiting quite a bit. It is the middle class that suffers.

DocMoose

 

[Kotin]

the point is, that 1 trillion a year spent on the war, is quite simply non existent


its borrowed.

 

[Caravello]

There's also the "fatigue" people have with it. For the past 7 years I could turn on the TV and be guaranteed to hear something about terrorism, Israel, and mid east. I am so sick of this crap. It's like finish it and STFU.

 

[The Tao Of Bill]

There was a time when we could say that war was good for the economy, especially when we are already in a recession. This was because there was a sudden need for manufactoring workers. This is not the case anymore. Someone suddenly realized that we can wage all the wars we want and never have to worry about ammunition if we just inflate the dollar because then we can print all the money we want and borrow the rest and we can easily afford wars without much noticeable effects to the people.

In the first year of the Korean war prices shot up by 7.8% in one year. That's a very noticeable price jump. Because of this people were very very ciritical of unnessisary wars because it hit them directly in the pocket book. But now that we just inflate the dollar instead of manufactor there is no real noticeable price jump (at least not as far as the consumer is concerned) and by the time the people realize we're in bad shape the government can usually blame it on something else like the housing bubble or healthcare costs when really those are all tied to out of control spending and inflation.

This will especially be true when the war finally does end because our dollar will be so inflated we won't know what to do with all the extra money and our economy will crash along with the value of our dollar where as if we manufactored we might see a sudden cost of living jump but we would also see more jobs and better standards of living after the war is over.