Search

The paper consists of the online discussion of Nancy Hollander's ‘Psyche, Ideology, and the Creation of the Political Subject’, summarized. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper consists of a discussion of Neil Altman's ‘Psychoanalysis and war’, which was conducted online through PsyBC in the fall of 2006. Discussants were a group of psychoanalytically oriented thinkers chosen by the author and Nancy Hollander, the author of the other paper included in the discussion. The paper represents the full discussion with only minor edits to correct typographical errors and improve clarity. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is intended to posit the hypothesis that defense spending has had and continues to have a very heavy impact, with widely varying outcomes, on our domestic economic position. The importance that defense spending has had since World War II is shown in the Economic Report of the President. Under the national defense category the total estimated amount this nation has spent from 1946 to 1972 has been one trillion, two hundred and sixty-four billion uncorrected dollars. It should be pointed out, however, that this expenditure category corresponds closely to the national defense classification in the "Budget of the United States Government for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1973." It does not include veterans expenditures and interest payments on the war-related debt which rightfully should be considered as defense-related expenditures. Total estimated veterans expenditures from appropriated funds from 1946 to 1972 were approximately $169 billion, while total estimated interest payments on the war-related debt from 1946 to 1972 were approximately $254 billion. This comprises the grand total of $423 billion which, when added to the national defense category, brings total estimated defense-related expenditures from 1946 to 1972 to one trillion, six hundred and eighty-seven billion uncorrected dollars. This 13-place number does not include: (1) inflationary price rises due to war spending and the cost to this nation in terms of reduced GNP; (2) the opportunity costs incurred by spending the nation's resources on an essentially destructive rather than constructive enterprise; (3) defense-related expenditures of the CIA, since these are secret and not published in the U.S. budget totals, and (4) international balance of trade and payment dislocations.