Debt, Deficits and Defence: The UK Experience 1700-2016

Military spending associated with wars has been a major cause of government deficits and debt financing. This paper looks at the association between debt and defence spending in the UK over the last three centuries. The paper reviews the history, discusses the theory and provides some estimates of t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Defence and peace economics 2020-05, Vol.31 (4), p.414-422
Main Author: Smith, Ron P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Debt financing
Defense spending
Government debt
Military
military expenditure
UK history
wars
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Summary:Military spending associated with wars has been a major cause of government deficits and debt financing. This paper looks at the association between debt and defence spending in the UK over the last three centuries. The paper reviews the history, discusses the theory and provides some estimates of the effect of variations in military expenditure on debt. The association tends to be quite close and the effect of the change in the share of military spending in GDP on the debt-GDP ratio is quite stable.
ISSN:1024-2694
1476-8267
DOI:10.1080/10242694.2019.1710996