Remember that old crap, "War is GOOD for the economy?" Well...

[Thtwudbeme]

apparently that was another myth we were led to believe:

LONDON (AFP) - The number of British households declaring bankruptcy because of an unmanageable burden of debt hit a record high last year, according to official figures.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2630&ncid=2630&e=25&u=/afp/20060204/wl_uk_afp/britaineconomydebtbankruptcyfamily

Looks like THIS war isn't good for anyone.

[stellanoir]

1. war only helps the war

profiteers and hurts everybody else.

[WhiteTara]

2. remember the other old crap...blood waters the earth

and makes the flowers grow...

When will we stop the madness?

[kineneb]

14. Where have all the flowers gone?...n/t

[WhiteTara]

15. young girls picked them every one

for all the dead soldiers...when will they ever learn?

[punpirate]

3. Well, since the UK budget stress due to war is much smaller than ours...

... I would suspect this is more likely a result of the housing bubble in the UK which corresponds to ours.

But, the point is still taken. Spending money on armaments, just to blow them up and buy more doesn't add value to the existing infrastructure. Nor does weapons production create as many jobs as putting money into other areas of the economy. See the 1983 Center for Economic Priorities report, Military Expansion/Economic Decline, for more good information on that principle.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. Imagine a world three meters thick.... a flat earth if you will, only

several thousand square miles in area, two sided, with lakes and oceans that touched both sides of the earth... imagine it and think about the implications of bombing anyone on the other side of the earth whom you may not care for.... simply put, you couldn't do it without messing up your own neighborhood, your own world/economy/well being, in reality, this is what we have, but we live under the illusion that it isn't so.

[SPKrazy]

5. Except the Military Industrial Complex, and Defense Contractors

and Halliburton

and Bechtel

and Lockheed

and Raytheon

I guess it is all just perspective to the ones who benefit.

[Katherine Brengle]

6. the days when war was good for a country's economy are long gone...

This only held true when the needs of the military were being met by various smaller factories and not by large corporations and their subsidiaries.

Also, the globalization of world economies leaves us without the boom in manufacturing jobs that are now sent overseas.

All we're left with is the bill.

[Lindacooks]

7. It's good for Halliburton and the oil companies.

That's about it.

[YOY]

8. POPULAR War is good for the economy

This sure as hell ain't a popular (nor a just nor a reasonable) one

[Cleita]

9. War keeps factories busy making weapons and other

instruments of war. Hitler was able to pull Germany out of bankruptcy with his war economy. Also, war technology gave us much of the technology we use today for peaceful purposes. However, in order to keep up this war economy one must keep fighting wars. It's a bad trade off in my opinion.

I think space exploration and other scientific endeavors would do the same, create jobs, invent technologies and no one has to hate and kill one another.

[Nevernose]

11. No, FULL-SCALE war keeps factories busy

Also, we are currently buying ammo from Taiwan.

I agree, though, that "space exploration and other scientific endeavors" are the way to go. We'd spend less moeny, be better prepared for the future, and instead of taking lives we could save them.

[enid602]

10. defense

War IS good for the economy, but not nearly as good as money invested in other sectors of the economy. The defense industry is not as labor-intensive as other sectors of the economy. Add to this the fact that defense contracts are no bid (in undeclared wars), you really don't get much bang for the money spent.

[Taxloss]

12. War is good for the economy like cannibalism is nutritious.

My analysis of the UK bankruptcy figures:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=191&topic_id=14821&mesg_id=14821

[Cleita]

13. That's a good way to put it. You have to eat your own

in order to remain alive.