What you described is one type of subsidy. It's not the only type. From that wikipedia article you linked: "In standard supply and demand curve diagrams, a sub

What you described is one type of subsidy. It's not the only type. From that wikipedia article you linked: "In standard supply and demand curve diagrams, a subsidy will shift either the demand curve up or the supply curve down. A subsidy that increases the production will tend to result in a lower price, while a subsidy that increases demand will tend to result in an increase in price." Defense R&D increases the demand for engineers and thereby raises their "price". I don't know if it has a significant effect though.