Other Economies

Not only have American taxpayers been subsidizing their own upper classes for a while now, but, as Jay Bookman at the AJC reminds us, we've been subsidizing a lot of other nations' whole economies, too.

Specifically, America spends a lot of money on defense so Europe doesn't have to.

And, yes, we'll loan friendly foreign powers money and encourage them to buy our old weapons and technology. Yes, this creates a few jobs here and there (and a lot of very wealthy defense contractors). But has anyone really done an intellectually robust, cost-benefit analysis of this relationship?

I think about this when I hear folks talk about how awesome social programs and transit and infrastructure are in Europe. I think about it when I hear folks telling me how competitive those economies are compared to our own. It all comes down to priorities, they explain.

But how would those priorities have changed if those nations didn't have the American people subsidizing their national security?

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