POSTPONED: The Commercialization of Conflict: How Military Contracting Distorts Markets & Fuels Perpetual War

At least half of U.S. federal spending on the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas in the “War on Terror” has gone to private contractors. Contractors not only build weapons systems for the military, but they also provide various services in war zones, including food services, construction, housing, transportation, and security. War is lucrative for these contractors, and whereas the public has an incentive to withdraw from war and stop wasting tax dollars and human lives, private contractors who profit from war have the opposite incentive. Heidi Peltier, Assistant Research Professor in the BU Department of Political Science and a Pardee Center Faculty Research Fellow, will discuss how the commercialization of the post-9/11 wars contributes to three interrelated phenomena: (1) budgetary distortion, or militarization of the federal budget; (2) market distortion via “Say’s Law,” wherein supply creates its own demand, as the profit-motive fuels the supply of war-related goods and services and leads to lobbying for defense funding; and (3) labor market distortion, as contractors are able to hire military veterans at low cost, and both veterans and civilians can find more lucrative job opportunities working for military contractors than in other industries.

When 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm on Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Location Pardee Center, 67 Bay State Road