Dr. Susmit Kumar

The republican administrations in general opt for increases in defense expenditures to compensate for decreases in other sectors of the GNP, as shown in Tables a and b. They create bogus war (1991 Gulf War and 2003 Iraq War) or war-like situation (1980s against Soviets) to achieve their objective. These not only take a heavy toll on the country’s economy (both in terms of direct costs and indirect costs like veterans’ cares), a number of young men and women lose their lives as well tens of thousands of them become crippled for their entire life both physically and emotionally.

The tables a and b show a major difference between the allocation of money for defense by Republican presidents and allocation under Democratic presidents. The Republican administrations under Reagan and Bush Jr. increased defense expenditures as a tool for GNP growth while the Democratic administrations under Carter and Clinton reduced them.

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