IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/compsc/v36y2019i3p227-247.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is US grand strategy self-defeating? Deep engagement, military spending and sovereign debt

Author

Listed:
  • Carla Norrlof

    (University of Toronto, Canada)

  • William C. Wohlforth

    (Dartmouth College, USA)

Abstract

Questions regarding the economic consequences of US grand strategy have gained new salience. This article provides an empirical test of the relationship between US military expenditures and public debt and clarifies the real constraints the US faces issuing debt. Neither results from the statistical analysis nor the economic theory of sovereign debt support the retrenchment position regarding the impact of military spending on public debt (1973–2015). Tax cuts are the most significant determinant of debt not military spending, social benefits or interest payments. Evaluating new hypotheses about alternative mechanisms through which military spending may damage the economy remains a priority.

Suggested Citation

  • Carla Norrlof & William C. Wohlforth, 2019. "Is US grand strategy self-defeating? Deep engagement, military spending and sovereign debt," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 36(3), pages 227-247, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:36:y:2019:i:3:p:227-247
    DOI: 10.1177/0738894216674953
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0738894216674953
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0738894216674953?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christos Kollias † & George Manolas & Suzanna-Maria Paleologouc, 2004. "Military expenditure and government debt in greece: Some preliminary empirical findings," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 189-197, April.
    2. Carla Norrlof, 2014. "Dollar hegemony: A power analysis," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(5), pages 1042-1070, October.
    3. Ugo Panizza & Federico Sturzenegger & Jeromin Zettelmeyer, 2009. "The Economics and Law of Sovereign Debt and Default," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 651-698, September.
    4. W. Robert J. Alexander, 2013. "The Defence-Debt Nexus: Evidence From The High-Income Members Of Nato," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 133-145, April.
    5. J. Paul Dunne † & Sam Perlo-Freeman ‡ & Aylin Soydan §, 2004. "Military expenditure and debt in small industrialised economies: A panel analysis," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 125-132, April.
    6. Breusch, T S, 1978. "Testing for Autocorrelation in Dynamic Linear Models," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(31), pages 334-355, December.
    7. Mete Feridun, 2005. "An Economic Analysis of the Military Expenditure and External Debt in Argentina," Economic Analysis Working Papers (2002-2010). Atlantic Review of Economics (2011-2016), Colexio de Economistas de A Coruña, Spain and Fundación Una Galicia Moderna, vol. 4, pages 1-20, December.
    8. Adam S. Posen, 2008. "Why the Euro will Not Rival the Dollar," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 75-100, May.
    9. L. Randall Wray, 1998. "Understanding Modern Money," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1668.
    10. Yemane Wolde-Rufael, 2009. "The Defence Spending-External Debt Nexus In Ethiopia," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(5), pages 423-436, October.
    11. Godfrey, Leslie G, 1978. "Testing against General Autoregressive and Moving Average Error Models When the Regressors Include Lagged Dependent Variables," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(6), pages 1293-1301, November.
    12. Riccardo De Bonis & Alessandro Giustiniani & Giorgio Gomel, 1999. "Crises and Bail Outs of Banks and Countries: Linkages, Analogies, and Differences," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 55-86, January.
    13. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    14. Russell Smyth & Paresh Kumar Narayan, 2009. "A Panel Data Analysis of the Military Expenditure-External Debt Nexus: Evidence from Six Middle Eastern Countries," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 46(2), pages 235-250, March.
    15. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    16. Breusch, T S & Pagan, A R, 1979. "A Simple Test for Heteroscedasticity and Random Coefficient Variation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(5), pages 1287-1294, September.
    17. Paresh Kumar Narayan & Seema Narayan, 2008. "Does Military Expenditure Determine Fiji'S Exploding Debt Levels?," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 77-87.
    18. Jurgen Brauer, 2007. "Data, Models, Coefficients: The Case of United States Military Expenditure," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 24(1), pages 55-64, February.
    19. Jonathan Kirshner, 2007. "What Does Finance Want? from Appeasing Bankers: Financial Caution on the Road to War," Introductory Chapters, in: Appeasing Bankers: Financial Caution on the Road to War, Princeton University Press.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sakiru Adebola Solarin, 2017. "Disaggregated military expenditure and the debt level in Nigeria," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1687-1705, July.
    2. Russell Davidson & Victoria Zinde‐Walsh, 2017. "Advances in specification testing," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(5), pages 1595-1631, December.
    3. Muhammad Shahbaz & Muhammad shahbaz Shabbir & Muhammad sabihuddin Butt, 2016. "Does Military Spending Explode External Debt in Pakistan?," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(5), pages 718-741, September.
    4. Serap BARIŞ, 2018. "Are defence expenditures the reasons of foreign debts in Turkey?," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(2(615), S), pages 205-220, Summer.
    5. Vadim Kufenko & Niels Geiger, 2017. "Stylized Facts of the Business Cycle: Universal Phenomenon, or Institutionally Determined?," Journal of Business Cycle Research, Springer;Centre for International Research on Economic Tendency Surveys (CIRET), vol. 13(2), pages 165-187, November.
    6. José M. Belbute & Alfredo M. Pereira, 2021. "The Relationship between Consumption and CO 2 Emissions: Evidence for Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-16, November.
    7. Zhang, Xiaoyan & Chang, Tsangyao & Su, Chi-Wei & Wolde-Rufael, Yemane, 2016. "Revisit causal nexus between military spending and debt: A panel causality test," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 939-944.
    8. Lijuan Huo & Jin Seo Cho, 2021. "Testing for the sandwich-form covariance matrix of the quasi-maximum likelihood estimator," TEST: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 30(2), pages 293-317, June.
    9. Lijuan Huo & Jin Seo Cho, 2019. "Testing for the Sandwich-Form Covariance Matrix Applied to Quasi-Maximum Likelihood Estimation Using Economic and Energy Price Growth Rates," Working papers 2019rwp-152, Yonsei University, Yonsei Economics Research Institute.
    10. Carlsson, M., 2000. "Measures of Technology and the Short-Run Responses to Technology Shocks - Is the RBC-Model Consistent with Swedish Manufacturing Data?," Papers 2000-20, Uppsala - Working Paper Series.
    11. Dragos Stefan Oprea & Elena Valentina Tilica, 2014. "Day-of-the-Week Effect in Post-Communist East European Stock Markets," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 4(3), pages 119-129, July.
    12. Frank Asche & Bård Misund, 2016. "Who’s a major? A novel approach to peer group selection: Empirical evidence from oil and gas companies," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 1264538-126, December.
    13. Dragos Stefan Oprea & Laura Brad, 2014. "Investor Sentiment and Stock Returns: Evidence from Romania," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 4(2), pages 19-25, April.
    14. Misund, Bård & Osmundsen, Petter, 2015. "Probable Oil and Gas Reserves and Shareholder Returns: The Impact of Shale Gas," UiS Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2015/17, University of Stavanger.
    15. Roberto Martínez-Espiñeira, 2007. "An Estimation of Residential Water Demand Using Co-Integration and Error Correction Techniques," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 161-184, May.
    16. Serkan Yilmaz Kandir & Ahmet Erismis & Ilhan Ozturk, 2015. "Investigating Exchange Rate Exposure of Energy Firms: Evidence from Turkey," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2015(6), pages 729-743.
    17. Serkan Yilmaz Kandir & Ahmet Erismis, 2010. "Investigating Exchange Rate Exposure of Bank Shares: Empirical Evidence From ISE," Istanbul Stock Exchange Review, Research and Business Development Department, Borsa Istanbul, vol. 12(46), pages 49-83.
    18. Pempetzoglou Maria, 2021. "A Literature Survey on Defense Expenditures – External Debt Nexus," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 27(1), pages 119-141, February.
    19. Chen, Huayi & Shi, Huai-Long & Zhou, Wei-Xing, 2024. "Carbon volatility connectedness and the role of external uncertainties: Evidence from China," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    20. Dragos Stefan Oprea, 2014. "The Halloween Effect Evidence from Romania," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 4(7), pages 463-471, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:36:y:2019:i:3:p:227-247. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.