Peace Talks Radio

“Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.” When President Eisenhower warned of the power of the military industrial complex in January 1961, he probably wouldn’t have guessed that the 2012 budget request for defense-related expenditures would be one trillion dollars. While conventional wisdom asserts that war and military spending are good for the economy, a 2007 report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research showed that military spending diverts resources from productive uses, such as consumption and investment, and ultimately slows economic growth and reduces employment. Today on Peace Talks, we’ll explore the relationship between economic development and peace. We’ll talk with two representatives from the Institute for Economics and Peace. Steve Killelea is the founder of the Institute and the creative force behind both the Gl