How Does Defense Spending Affect Economic Growth?

Abstract

How Does Defense Spending Affect Economic Growth? I n recent years, there has been a growing debate about the U.S. role in the world, or U.S. grand strategy. A grand strategy guides choices about how to manage relations with allies and adversaries, where to forward deploy U.S. forces, and how much to spend on defense. Some analysts argue that the United States remains incredibly powerful and geographically distant from its adversaries, allowing it to remain secure with a reduced global footprint and without spending as much on defense as in previous years. 1 Others argue that the threats to the United States are plentiful and must be countered with policies that require the current or an even higher level of defense