Is War Good for the Economy?

[munkyforce]

I've noticed on a few threads that I've read that people believe that a war is good for a nations economy. I can't help but wonder how true this actually is. To me it seems contingent on too many factors to be easily applied as a blanket statement.
For example a war fought on your own territory and the consequent destruction of infrastructure would seem to be detrimental to an economy. Or as another example if the war you become involved in is not a 'total war' (i.e. requiring the mobilisation of nearly the entire economy to execute), surely the macro-economic impact will not be that substantial, given the costs of waging a war.

What do you think? Please give reasons for your opinion.

 

[bodyklok]

Well Sun Tzu said that war is of vital importance to the state, that could mean anything really. I for one think that war can be good fot the economy, you just have to look at the USA to see that, of course that doesn't mean it is always good for the economy.

 

[-Orgasmatron-]

It's good for the USA's arms and private military industries.

 

[MarkTwain]

USA's economy was saved from a depression by WWII, so....yeah

 

[Nargleblarg]

Facotries/businesses start up new jobs in industry open up and we need people to go off and die....seems like a win win situation.

 

[Yoshi_egg80]

Well I have a feeling this will turn out into a economics voodoo thing but It made the Americans spend lot's of money in WWII which apparently got them out of their depression so overall I'd say yeah in its own weird way.

 

[Aur0ra145]

Look at the economic ruins Germany was left in after WWI. Then look at how powerful the third reich was at it's peak.

Yes, war is probably the best thing for an economy.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

People will always fight, and they all always need food.

This means the two businesses that supply people with the above will always flourish.

 

[jane_says]

War isn't good for the economy because of the huge amount of money dedicated to military spending and things that aren't really beneficial to the nation as a whole. It is however good for certain business that make up the military industrial complex i.e the ones who make everything from the guns right down to bootlaces.

 

[Pimppeter2]

It can be, it isn't always

 

[Lord_Panzer]

Only if you win.

 

[goodchild]

America wasn't the only country in a huge economic depression in the 1930's - Germany was, too, and that's how the Nazi's were able to come to power. Most of the major nations in the world were - and production of materials rebuilt many of the sluggish economies.
When you go to war, factories have to open, materials must be built somewhere-
So, people in towns get jobs at factories, so you have more people with jobs. as more people are working in areas where they weren't earlier, new businesses pop up to support those new workers - restaurants, bars, stores of all kinds - and the workers spend their new money there. Those new businesses order new products from other businesses ... the effect keeps cycling.
It's not that war itself pulls an economy out of a depression, it's sudden large scale demand for materials. In america, the motto was always that "we make stuff" and that was why our economy did so well - our problem now is that don't make nearly as much stuff.
That's not to say we need a war to break out of that - but, it would (as history proves) help.
I am not advocating war - I'd like for america to find a new material that not only we will need, but the world will need going forward - large scale demand, production starts, the cycle begins ...

 

[Ultrajoe]

Economy doesn't flourish when war breaks out, War does.

It depends on your definitions of 'good economy'. If your definition is 'bent towards one goal to the detriment of the common man', then it certainly does that. Unless you wanted to count on coming out of the war as the strongest survivor... which is like playing russian roulette with a revolver filled with 5 bullets and one bit of candy, you just can't know all the factors.

Does the economy 'improve'? In a way, yes. Does it justify War? I think not.

 

[LewsTherin]

It does to a point, and that is part of the problem.

 

[Computer-Noob]

Facotries/businesses start up new jobs in industry open up and we need people to go off and die....seems like a win win situation.

Does +1 trillion dollars in loses sound like a profit?

 

[ElephantGuts]

As long as you're winning. Example: World War 2. America's economy: Great. Everyone who wasn't fighting was working in a factory.

Germany's economy: Bad. Probably due to the fact that all of its factories were reduced to rubble. Along with the cities in which those factories resided.

 

[nikosuave]

Amazingly, it is. My buddy on the debate team even found some evidence that the war in Iraq delayed the current recession.

 

[Valiance]

Well, it gives you stuff to manufacture.

And sometimes when it's a real war...spoils of war do it.