Money spent on weapons is a negative multiplier on the economy. The goods and services it represents are subtracted from normal circulation. You build a tank, if it's not used, its money down the hole. If it is, it's destruction of assets, lives and economies. If you build a bulldozer, it's jobs, infrastructure and commerce. You make roads, parks, communites, and factories.

War also leads to long term expensive obligations, such as to the wounded, who not only are removed from participation, but become a burden on their families and communities. Being dead is not any better, but less expensive. We are still paying off the Vietnam War, the maiden heist of the military industrial complex.

--imm