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The military-industrial complex as a variety of capitalism and threat to democracy: rethinking the political economy of guns versus butter

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  • Thomas Palley

Abstract

This paper examines the military-industrial complex (MIC), which is a prototype widely imitated by other business sectors. Collectively, they constitute a variety of capitalism which can be termed the poly-industrial complex (PIC). Understanding the MIC is critical to understanding contemporary US capitalism, US international policy, and the drift toward Cold War II. The MIC exerts a massive societal impact. It twists economic activity toward military spending; twists the character of technical progress; is socially corrosive via its capture of politics and government; twists societal understanding of geopolitics to increase demand for war services; promotes militarism and increases the likelihood of war; and promotes proto-fascist drift because militarism drips back into national politics. Given those features, the MIC is of first-order significance and the consequences of failure to understand it are likely to be grim. Politics is at the center of possibilities for change. That raises questions whether the demand for change can be mustered, and whether the political system will permit it.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Palley, 2024. "The military-industrial complex as a variety of capitalism and threat to democracy: rethinking the political economy of guns versus butter," Working Papers PKWP2409, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
  • Handle: RePEc:pke:wpaper:pkwp2409
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Engelbert Stockhammer, 2022. "Post-Keynesian Macroeconomic Foundations for Comparative Political Economy," Politics & Society, , vol. 50(1), pages 156-187, March.
    2. Burgin, Angus, 2012. "The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free Markets since the Depression," Economics Books, Harvard University Press, number 9780674058132, Spring.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Military-industrial complex; war; miltarism; Neoliberalism; Neoconservatism; fascism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • F51 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Conflicts; Negotiations; Sanctions
    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • P10 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - General

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