Incredible, yet not really surprising, news out just now that our weapons industry keeps rolling along, despite the bum economy:
The United States signed weapons agreements valued at $37.8 billion in 2008, or 68.4 percent of all business in the global arms bazaar, up significantly from American sales of $25.4 billion the year before.
Italy was a distant second, with $3.7 billion in worldwide weapons sales in 2008, while Russia was third with $3.5 billion in arms sales last year — down considerably from the $10.8 billion in weapons deals signed by Moscow in 2007.
It's nice to know that we still beat out those damned socialist countries, with their "universal healthcare" and "compassion" when it comes to killing people! Luckily for us, it seems the same now-legacy costs that have plagued our Armed Forces are also taking a toll on our other countries, in the process further enriching the military-industrial complex:
Mr. Grimmett’s report stated that the growth of weapons sales by the United States was "extraordinary" in a time of global recession and resulted from new arms deals as well as the sustained cost of maintenance, upgrades, ammunition and spare parts to nations that bought American weapons in the past.
Who is spending all this money? Well, the top buyers seem to be oil-ocracies, intent on keeping power and maintaining their status:
The top buyers in the developing world in 2008 were the United Arab Emirates, which signed $9.7 billion in arms deals; Saudi Arabia, which signed $8.7 billion in weapons agreements; and Morocco, with $5.4 billion in arms purchases.
This all begs the question, is there a reason the "merchants of death" can't get taxed differently than you average business? I mean, food staple taxes are different than alcohol and cigarette taxes, right? Because we try to encourage certain behaviors and discourage others. Is there a reason why we couldn't do this with weapons manufacturers (other than their lobbyists, of course)?
Looking forward to the comments.