2. Making Peace as Good for the Economy as War Is

War is Good for the Economy! So we need to find ways to make peace even more profitable
Although it has been said that war is often good for the economy, this is on the face of it counterintuitive. Huge amounts of effort are expended in manufacturing items which will be exploded, vast amounts of people are engaged only in killing, destroying etc: for counterpoint, imagine that all the manufacturing effort went to making needed medical equipment, and the manpower was used to help people in need.

Also, much destruction is caused and then rebuilding is necessary (via government spending of the peoples’ tax money). What are the elements of a war economy which are beneficial (manufacturers of weapons gain a lot, construction companies after the war etc? Can one learn from this how to stimulate a non-war economy to be beneficial?

Discussion: Do economists agree that war is in fact beneficial to economies? To certain economies? Only to great victors?

If yes, we need to look at the kinds of good effects, if any, that follow from wars and trying to figure out which if any can be adapted to peace time. Some are complex social/economic issues e.g. African-Americans and women achieved greater integration into the work force due to WWII, this may have benefited the economy in the long term..  trade openings and encouraging open free-trade and competition are also intensely political. But are there more-purely economic issues and ways that war has improved the economy in the real and long-term that are not generally employed in peace-time?

Of course a lot of jobs are created in the armaments and construction industry but all this is via government spending of the peoples’ tax money: so why is it good: is it a redistribution of the available money? Resources? Do people work longer for less pay during war? We shelled out tremendous amounts of money in WWI and afterwards to Europe to rebuild etc, why was this good for us?

Is it that people expect less profit on the stock market, and will do without certain items (rationing of products, or of fuel etc.)? Is it all an illusion because times always seem better after a war, trade opportunities open with countries whose doors were closed due to war difficulties; war-related scientific R&D has beneficial spin-offs?

Peace-time state budget spending as in war-time will certainly in the short run bring about full-employment but it is unsustainable in the long-run. Trade openings can be achieved peacefully rather than by war; peace time scientific R&D is certainly to be encouraged.  Rather than simply mimicking war conditions for pushing forward an economy, how can these be adapted appropriately?

next naive proposal: Designing a Consumerism Good for the Economy and for the Soul