May 24, 2017 | Research Report
  • Headline: The High Job Opportunity Cost of War
  • Intro Text: New research finds that federal spending on domestic programs creates far more American jobs and yields more broad-based benefits than military spending. In a report published by Brown University's Watson Institute, Heidi Garrett-Peltier shows that investments in education and healthcare create more than twice as many jobs as defense for the same level of spending, while clean energy and infrastructure create over 40 percent more jobs. In fact, over the past 16 years, by spending money on war rather than in these other areas of the domestic economy, the US lost the opportunity to create between one million and three million additional jobs.
  • Type of publication: Research Report
  • Research or In The Media: Research
  • Research Area: Finance, Jobs & Macroeconomics
  • Publication Date: 2017-05-24
  • View pdf
  • Authors:
    • Add Authors: Heidi Garrett-Peltier
  • Show in Front Page Modules: Yes
  • Publisher: Watson Institute, Brown University
Job Opportunity Cost of War

In a report published by Brown University's Watson Institute, Heidi Garrett-Peltier finds that federal spending on domestic programs in health care, education, clean energy and infrastructure creates more jobs, dollar for dollar, than military spending. The report documents how many jobs are created in a variety of domestic sectors for every million dollars of federal money spent compared to the number of jobs created for the same amount spent on defense. Garrett-Peltier finds that domestic spending outpaces military spending in job creation by 21 percent (for wind energy development) to 178 percent (for elementary and secondary education).

>> Read press release

>> Listen to podcast interview with Watson Institute

>> Listen to interview with Madison, Wisconsin's WORP radio

umass logo

This is an official web page
of the University of Massachusetts.

Political Economy Research Institute

Gordon Hall, 418 N. Pleasant St., Suite A

Amherst, MA 01002
Tel: 413-545-6355 Fax: 413-577-0261
Contact: