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Profiteering from the military industrial complex is a much more subtle art than that. There are many sophisticated (and readable) studies about it which you ca

by ak_111 3y ago

Profiteering from the military industrial complex is a much more subtle art than that. There are many sophisticated (and readable) studies about it which you can read. Sometimes it is not even that subtle. Just take a few minutes to read about Blackwater.

FredPret 3y ago
There is profiteering, as with any large industry, especially government-backed ones with near-guaranteed payouts. But what’s the scale of it? Is it enough to bring down the whole US? My answer is not even close.
- ak_111 3y ago
  See my other comment. There is no way to get a scale of it since it is not audited. All we see is the public debt ballooning while infrastructure around us is decaying. Where is the money going?
  - FredPret 3y ago
    But we can look at the audited public filings of the defense contractors. And their numbers are really kind of reasonable.
  - geeB 3y ago
    The deficit since October is roughly the same as all defense expenditures: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-deficit/ https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/natio... So even if they went to zero and didn’t have any effect on revenue, we’d still end up the year with debt ballooning. The lion share of expenditures are non-discretionary, and public debt increase is largely determined by demographics and interest rates.
  - KptMarchewa 3y ago
    > There is no way to get a scale of it since it is not audited. Pretty boring talking point, since it's mostly audited - the various secret programs are very small in comparison to public ones. > Where is the money going? Giant majority goes to various social and medical programs, that only baloon from aging of society and prolonged lifespans without extending workspan. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/2023_US_Federal_Budget_Infographic.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/2023_US_... So, in short - pensioners eat all the money.

by ak_111 3y ago

FredPret 3y ago

There is profiteering, as with any large industry, especially government-backed ones with near-guaranteed payouts. But what’s the scale of it? Is it enough to bring down the whole US? My answer is not even close.

ak_111 3y ago
See my other comment. There is no way to get a scale of it since it is not audited. All we see is the public debt ballooning while infrastructure around us is decaying. Where is the money going?
- FredPret 3y ago
  But we can look at the audited public filings of the defense contractors. And their numbers are really kind of reasonable.
- geeB 3y ago
  The deficit since October is roughly the same as all defense expenditures: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-deficit/ https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/natio... So even if they went to zero and didn’t have any effect on revenue, we’d still end up the year with debt ballooning. The lion share of expenditures are non-discretionary, and public debt increase is largely determined by demographics and interest rates.
- KptMarchewa 3y ago
  > There is no way to get a scale of it since it is not audited. Pretty boring talking point, since it's mostly audited - the various secret programs are very small in comparison to public ones. > Where is the money going? Giant majority goes to various social and medical programs, that only baloon from aging of society and prolonged lifespans without extending workspan. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/2023_US_Federal_Budget_Infographic.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/2023_US_... So, in short - pensioners eat all the money.