Defending Ourselves To Death

March 22nd, 2011

In a typically thoughtful piece by Jim Manzi discussing the current Libyan misadventure, I found this observation:

"Yes, we ”spend more on our military than all other major powers combined.” But, depending on how you measure it, the U.S. has about 20 – 25% of world GDP. In the long-run, we cannot win an arms race with the whole rest of the planet."

We are also not the world's policeman. Please consult the following graphics. The first makes clear that it is not merely the corporatist revenue schemes of the last ten years, but the previously unheard of increases in military industrial spending that poise our nation for admittance to the dustbin of history.

The War On Unions, Cont...

Jan 25th, 2011

The labor movement is under attack from the American Right with a force that hasn't been seen in decades. Public sector pensions in particular have been targeted as the primary villain in budget shortfalls at the state level. Completely ignoring depressed revenue due to the recession, the wildly irresponsible tax code modifications of the last 30 years and even the most basic principles of contract law, a near hysterical meme is gaining traction. It is the argument that we must find a way to dissolve or otherwise dishonor these legal obligations.

There is one problem with the rising level of alarmism. The facts simply don't support it. The average state cost of public sector pensions is an average of 3.8% of GDP. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College completed an exhaustive study this past October on the actual impact of these commitments.


It should be required reading by every so-called "fiscal-hawk."