[P2P-F] Fwd: Dear Future US President,

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bob Reuschlein <bobreuschlein at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Apr 24, 2016 at 2:34 AM
Subject: Dear Future US President,
To:


Link to send or tweet to others:

*https://bobreuschlein.wordpress.com/2016/04/23/dear-future-us-president/
<https://bobreuschlein.wordpress.com/2016/04/23/dear-future-us-president/>*

Dear Future US President,

by Professor Robert Reuschlein



America has signed and ratified the law against war and even the threat of
war, the Kellogg-Briand Treaty of 1928.  To bring America into compliance
with the treaty would have significant economic benefits to the nation as
well as extremely positive worldwide implications.  The Treaty is the
supreme law of the land, according to the US Constitution.  You may not
have been asked about the Treaty as part of the process that has gotten you
the Presidency.  However, this should not dull the importance of the Treaty
for you and the nation as a whole.  The lack of attention to the Treaty
reflects a kind of historical amnesia, one which this letter and many other
efforts, we hope, will end.



Perhaps you are unaware of the op-ed of Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz in
the British paper *The Guardian* on January 22, 2003.  He was, of course,
President Bill Clinton’s chief economic advisor in the nineties.  In this
op-ed titled “The Myth of the War Economy,” Stiglitz says “War is widely
thought to be linked to economic good times… Today, we know that this is
nonsense. The 1990s boom showed that peace is economically far better than
war. The Gulf war of 1991 demonstrated that wars can actually be bad for an
economy. That conflict contributed mightily to the onset of the recession
of 1991 (which was probably the key factor in denying the first President
Bush re-election in 1992).”



In fact, redirecting the capital rich military economy between 1985 and 1999
and allowing those potent economic resources to be applied to the
manufacturing economy instead lead to unprecedented prosperity in the post
Cold War 1990s.  Further proof of this critical choice between the
manufacturing sector and the military sector is the fact that manufacturing
increased in the late nineties despite various trade deals that are
sometimes presented as putting the US at a disadvantage.  Manufacturing
will indeed boom if given the resources normally devoted to a nonproductive
military economy, and the US can compete with other nations if it refrains
from military buildups and active conflicts.



Evidence for the proposition that military spending hurts the economy has
only mounted since 2003, as the 2.8 million manufacturing jobs lost in the
twenty-four months after 9-11 are coupled with the military buildup and
jobs lost through shifts in trade.  1.7 million jobs were lost to the
military buildup and one million jobs to trade (as was often discussed in
the 2004 US election).  A steady rise in unemployment leading up to the
Great Recession began after the Iraq “surge” troops began to be deployed in
July 2007.  The unequal real estate boom from the military buildup fooled
many parts of the nation into expecting the economy to continue upward.
When it did not, the drain from the $70 billion “surge” apparently pushed
the fragile mortgage economy into a severe decline.  This pattern is
similar to the 1980s with the military buildup transferring moneys from the
productive economy to the unproductive economy, distorting the local real
estate market until the Savings & Loan (S&L) bailout was the result. The
murder rate is also linked with military spending.  Although no
criminologists can explain the drop in crime in the nineties, military
spending and murder rates strongly correlate among the youngest five
members of the G7, America, Japan, Germany, Canada, and Italy.  The Cold
War peace dividend benefited the nineties economy and crime.  It is
becoming more evident through the decades that the economic stagnation
caused by high levels of military spending leads to the collapse of empires
and the related social decay.


Another benefit is that lower military spending improves the national
strength over time, as military spending can actually increase faster as a
small percentage of a fast growing economy.  Tailoring the military can
make it more nimble than ever and less encumbered with obsolete heavy
forces; it can also improve America’s image in the world.  Let more
regional forces deal with the world’s ground military problems and
primarily provide technical backup.  With decreases in military spending,
America will become more closely compliant with the lofty goals of the
Kellogg Briand Pact of 1928.  The Pact may have been wrought in a previous
century, but it provides guidance that reaches far into the future.


As you face the future as the President of the United States (from whatever
party or background you hail), considering the Pact as a guiding principle
alerts the world that the US is deeply committed to its own economic
wellbeing along with larger global peace and justice issues.  It may seem
that following the Treaty is an act of altruism.  However, the Treaty’s
direction would lead the US into a more prosperous and productive-- as well
as peaceful-- future.

Dr. Robert Reuschlein, details in www.realeconomy.com

For a short booklet on the effects of Peace Economics:

https://www.academia.edu/4108656/BOOKLET_for_Peace_Economics_11_charts_24p._2011



Professor Robert Reuschlein, Dr. Peace,

Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2016

Real Economy Institute, Madison, Wisconsin

CONTACT: bobreuschlein at gmail.com 608-230-6640,

INFO: www.realeconomy.com



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