Taloustieteilijät ja asevelvollisuus

Uusimmassa Econ Journal Watchissa on David R. Hendersonin artikkeli taloustieteilijöiden panostuksesta asevelvollisuuden lakkauttamiseen Yhdysvalloissa.

Economists, in the mid- to late-1960s, did extensive work documenting the tremendous human cost of the draft and laying out a systematic and strong case against the draft and for an all-volunteer force. Here, I try to convey why I believe these efforts really made a differnce in ending the draft.

Varsin mukavaa luettavaa. Tässä muutama lainaus:

In the course of his testimony, he made the statement that he did not want to command an army of mercenaries. I stopped him and said, 'General, would you rather command an army of slaves?' He drew up and said, 'I don't like to hear our patriotic volunteers referred to as mercenaries.' But I went to say, 'If they are mercenaries, then I, sir, am a mercenary professor, and you, sir, are the mercenary general; we are served by mercenary physicians, we use a mercenary lawyer, and we get our meat from a mercenary butcher.' That was the last that we heard from the general about mercenaries.
(Milton Friedman kenraali William Westmorelandille)

Economists' Stetement in Opposition to the Draft:
We, the undersigned, oppose moves toward the reimposition of the draft. The draft would be a more costly way of maintaining the military than an all-volunteer force. Those who claim that a draft costs less than a volunteer military cite as a savings the lower wages that the government can get away with paying draftees. But they leave out the burden imposed on the draftees themselves. Since a draft would force many young people to delay or forego entirely other activities valuable to them and to the rest of society, the real cost of military manpower would be substantially more than the wages draftees would be paid. Saying that a draft would reduce the cost of the military is like saying that the pyramids were cheap because they were built with slave labour.
(80-luvun alusta, kun asevelvollisuutta pyrittiin saamaan takaisin)

Olisi kiva jos Suomestakin löytyisi taloustieteilijöitä jotka uskaltaisivat sanoa asiat yhtä suoraan. Tosin aika moni kansantaloustieteilijä taitaa saada palkkansa valtiolta, joten ruokkivaa kättä on ehkä vähän paha mennä puremaan.