How much money and jobs does a war create?

From my experience as a stock broker I know that ammunition and the like, referred to as expendables, amounts to about 5% of the overall cost. Looking back at WWII we were in a depression but the war finally ended it. The GI's returned home and all the pent up demand from the 30's and the war years resulted in an explosive economy that created great wealth across the board, not just for the defense companies. No matter what someone always profits but that certainly isn't a bad thing.

Hi ;

  Well ,  I think you can look at it this way .War creates jobs in the defense industry , which to simplify it , if it benefits the services that need things and the food and other industries that will be involved , so it makes a lot of jobs .The downside ? Well , let me tell you this .How much does it cost to bring these veterans of a conflict back to normal ? Many get their souls and minds tested far beyond what they would in civilian life .What is the cost there ?

  here's the rub . We as humans have this inordinate ability to destroy our species .Why do we constantly , do this ? We don't need a war either . How about polluting and building ourselves into a corner .Then who's going to worry if everyone gets enough to eat or shelter from the cold . This is what the money should be spent on .The thing is ,many who sit down to dinner ,( does anyone really do that anymore ?) Don't give one thought to the illegals who picked their vegetables so they could have them on the table .How many of those veggies found their way back to the tables of these folks who have children too ?

  We educate folks from foriegn countries and what happens? years later they are our enemies . Why do we have to make sure everyone lives like us .Religion starts wars , Politics start wars and Race starts wars .Where is the person or persons who should figure out how much of each of these conflicts cost overall ?

    When folks live in fear of the unknown ( who's going to win , and will we ever be free of death and destruction ?) Then if that happens what is the cost to achieve it .Too much in my book .We cannot , and should NOT be the world's policemen .We have starving , infirm and homeless right here at home .We have not had roadside IEDs kill our children and wives or family .We need to figure the cost of these folks just to live . War , is the ultimate spender too .How , well equipment to kill others and the infrastructure to support it .What is the cost ? Let me ask you this . How much is a HUMAN life worth  ? Add that up and you'll find the true cost . Lives scarred by battle , lives scarred emotionally by the stuff they built and why they built it ? Wars make jobs and Wars create vacuums that will never be filled afterward .How much does that cost ?

If all we ever did was prepare for war and never had wars that might be a good thing.  Doesn't seem to work that way.  As far as economics is concerned, all it takes for a good economy is people confident enough and willing to buy.  If they are all as cheap as me a depression is certain!  Doesn't have to be war goods, movies, food, tv's, video games, whatever.

It's almost like airplane modelling is a microcosm of the bigger economy, and here we are building war machines left and right and only the occasional airliner or general aviation bird.  We has met the enemy and they is us?

I knew that I missed something- employment. A war economy does create employment. Countries on a full war footing utilize their population in every conceivable way. Some of it paid thru the money chafing hands, and some of it unpaid, either voluntary or conscripted. And historically speaking, those not utilized in those roles are those that can not be utilized for anything- the infirm, the insane, the very young, and the very old. It is interesting to read, no matter what the ideology, nationality, etc., of various folks who lived in those times, of the 'unity of purpose' they felt with their fellow citizens. The best of times and worst of times.

Yes, that too!  My grandmother spent her teenage years under Nazi occupation.  But the first big war wasn't so much about German expansionism, and some historians consider the 2 world wars to be one extended conflict.

I think Stikpusher put it perfectly.

War itself creates no money. In industrialized nations it causes money to go from the hands of citizens and thru the government into the hands of those who supply the implements of war, with a small portion returning to the farmers and factory workers who do that work. In poor non industrialized nations not even that is achieved. But yes, certain individuals, the industrial tycoons and traders in such do profit enormously from the war economy.  If there were no war machines in our hobby, I suppose that I would build real space, research aircraft, ships, etc. certainly an airliner or two from TWA that I grew up around.. Might even go back to dinosaurs, the things that got me into this hobby in the first place.

Cdn Colin

Newfoundland was a proudly independent colony.  The war debt from 1914-18, coupled with the loss of a male generation, so decimated their economy that they were forced to join Canadian Confederation in 1949.  

Quite frankly, I think the only beneficiaries of conflict int he 20th century was American industry.

You mean other benefits besides Europe not speaking German today,and Asia Japanese ?

Newfoundland was a proudly independent colony.  The war debt from 1914-18, coupled with the loss of a male generation, so decimated their economy that they were forced to join Canadian Confederation in 1949.  

Quite frankly, I think the only beneficiaries of conflict int he 20th century was American industry.

World's largest consumer of petroleum resources- The Pentagon.

Largest segment of the US Budget- The Pentagon.

Enen in rough terms, the cost of war (and keeping the peace) is astronomical.

Really huge numbers.

Well, you could probably get some kind of figures on it, and I apologize in advance if I'm coming at this from the wrong angle, but in my opinion, whatever it creates, it's not worth the lives it destroys. How much is an arm worth? A leg? A life?

How many tax dollars are "lost" supporting a family who's just lost their father, or mother? How many jobs are lost because of destroyed infrastructure, dead workers, or psychologically-damaged potential employees? Many historians will tell you that the only reason America was really flush with cash in the 50s was because we utterly destroyed half the world's ability to economically compete with us.

How much money spent on repairing vehicles whose primary purpose is to destroy could be better spent on construction jobs for repairing our dangerously-aging infrastructure? Developing solar and wind power? Spending on Science and research or innovation?

You don't need wars to write wars. Wouldn't it be great if War was just an artifact of Humanity's violent past? We could still vicariously "play War" in video games, or make movies about them. Hell, international Futbol (Soccer) is just about a de facto substitute for war over in Europe!

However much it costs, it bankrupts nations.