Paying for War: How to afford a future of strategic competition

Abstract

Wars are expensive and how they are paid for is important for both military capacity as well as political accountability. The two main ways to pay for wars are taxation and debt. In the mid-twentieth century taxes fell out of favour as a way of paying for wars. In this Centre of Gravity paper, Professor Sarah Kreps of Cornell University shows that the public and legislature are less apt to focus on how force is being used when they do not bear the burdens of those wars. As such, she argues how we pay is important for how we fight. The paper argues that the United States and other democracies must restore the connection between the public and the policy choices that the government makes about war. So that public approval is a conscious decision informed by an awareness of the stakes and tradeoffs rather than a tacit decision perpetuated by a lack of political awareness. Show more