THE WAR PROFITEERS

by Richard F. Kaufman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1970

After whisking briefly through profiteering in America's past wars, the author notes that World War II concluded with none of the traditional cry to expose the profiteers. Boondoggling became permanently ensconced in a public-sector military economy with the government assuring us it possessed the necessary machinery to eliminate profiteering. Kaufman (a staff member for the Council of Economic Advisers) selects telling military-cost figures: the 1946 $74 machine gun is now $579; World War II's $94,000 cargo plane is replaced with today's $53 million C-5, while total Defense Department assets have reached $210 billion. The industrial club that bids for a slice of the enormous military pie becomes ever more exclusive, virtually synonymous with a few supercorporations. Kaufman holds that this decline of competition, weaponry sophistication, government sanction of practically any cost overrun, and tolerance of late and defective shipments make a mockery of supposed government safeguards. But his generally sketchy presentation of what are now fairly well-known data sheds little light on how the military economy relates to the whole national economy. Tyrrell's Pentagon Partners (1970, p. 1086) and Melman's Pentagon Capitalism (1970, p. 302), generally more solid, make a stronger attempt in that direction, while many writers including Barnet (The Economy of Death, 1969) have more fully examined the political and academic consequences of military-industrial hypertrophy. Kaufman concludes that Congress must take a more active role, garner more information, and exercise ""the courage to use its own judgment."" Included in the text are several pages of a rather indigestible rundown of academic defense contracts.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Bobbs-Merrill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION