Jeffrey Sachs: Bipartisan Support of War, from Iraq to Ukraine, Is Helping Fuel U.S. Debt Crisis

The United States faces a default on its debt in early June if a deal on the debt ceiling is not reached between the Biden administration and Republicans in Congress before then. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is pushing for sweeping budget cuts and new work requirements for recipients of government programs, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP. Notably, however, neither Republicans nor Democrats are proposing cuts to one of the biggest drivers of the nation’s debt: the massive U.S. military budget. “We’ve got to get this military-industrial lobby under control, but it’s hard to do, because it’s a bipartisan affair,” says our guest, economist Jeffrey Sachs, whose recent article is headlined “America’s Wars and the US Debt Crisis.

Jeffrey Sachs: Bipartisan Support of War, from Iraq to Ukraine, Is Helping Fuel U.S. Debt Crisis

Previously:

The War in Ukraine Was Provoked—and Why That Matters to Achieve Peace

Pentagon Profiteers: Executive Compensation in the Arms Industry

Pentagon Profiteers: Executive Compensation in the Arms Industry

Another way to understand the size of CEO compensation at the big contractors is to look at how many jobs would be created if that $287 million were spent on something else. The answer is that spending that money on productive activities would create thousands of jobs: 2,812 jobs in clean energy or infrastructure; 4,104 jobs in health care; and 4,362 in education, calculated using data on the jobs impact of government spending generated by Heidi Peltier for the Brown Costs of War Project.

The “Nation Rebuilding Industry” Salivates Over Ukraine

American taxpayers must prepare to foot the bill.

The powerful military-industrial complex, with generous campaign contributions funneled via K-Street lobbyists to both parties, celebrated a huge victory yesterday. By getting overwhelming majorities in both chambers to approve a whopping, unprecedented $856 billion Pentagon bill, America’s defense industries are assured of continued prosperity for years to come. Pentagon budgets are rarely cut year after year and generally only rise with time.

The “Nation Rebuilding Industry” Salivates Over Ukraine