Thanks for the speedy reply!

I discussed comparison of historical costs when I reviewed Chet Richard’s latest book [1].

One needs to be careful, because the labor-capital mix changes over time, so costs which are paid in terms of labor in one time period may be “cheaply” paid with capital later on.

Certainly there are short-term cost adjustments here and there (a real estate bubble bursting, commodity prices rising, etc), but these tend to get lost in the noise of the economy.

[1] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2008/02/12/review-of-if-we-can-keep-it-by-chet-richards.html

Thank you for your comment!

The Global War on Communism was another great example of a “Money/Fantasy Machine” — the cold war created the modern arms market after all.

Agreed [1].

In retrospect, we know that the Soviets were never a serious threat to us

Attemping to destroy the global economy – and taking a third of the world offline — is a serious threat.

and we know that intel on both sides was so polluted with moles and double agents that nobody had an accurate picture of WTF was going on

Wars often have fog.

Although on a conceptual level I often disagree with you, I always appreciate your articles, they are always lucid, detailed and like Zenpundit, refreshingly honest in your language.

Thank you!

I appreciate the acknowledgement that what is Good and Right is whatever those in power determine to be Good and Right and project onto their captive populations.

In truth, state-within 5GW [2] goes beyond this, such that what is good and right matter less than structural issues such as providing jobs/votes/missions. [2]

(The increasing cost of maintaining these power base populations is going to keep getting steeper, though.)

Do you know of references for this? I would be interested in it.

[1] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2007/06/12/5gw-shrinking-the-gap-the-moneyfantasy-machine.html
[2] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2007/08/01/kinds-of-5gw.html

Although on a conceptual level I often disagree with you, I always appreciate your articles, they are always lucid, detailed and like Zenpundit, refreshingly honest in your language. We’re not getting the common man excited, we’re “subverting our own population” — candor that reminded me of Mark Safranski’s comment about a 5GW hi-tech version of Operation Phoenix where he referred to “the bady guys” in those same quotes.

I appreciate the acknowledgement that what is Good and Right is whatever those in power determine to be Good and Right and project onto their captive populations. (The increasing cost of maintaining these power base populations is going to keep getting steeper, though.)

Boeing runs ads showing off their new fighters that can only be used against China in the Taiwan Straits. Why not build a world where Lockheed-Blackwater runs PR as a matter of course for their latest in state-building, post-conflict stabilization, and systems administration services?

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_triangle
[2] http://www.tdaxp.com/tag/ellsworth

By it, I was referring to the”Military-Industrial-Leviathan-Complex”

I was actually reminded of Mencken's “The New Deal began, like the Salvation Army, by promising to save humanity. It ended, again like the Salvation Army, by running flop-houses and disturbing the peace.” and Albert Jay Nock's adage: “Experience has made it clear beyond doubt or peradventure that prohibition in the United States is not a moral issue; it is not essentially, even, a political issue; it is a vested interest.”

Come to think of it, I blogged about that here.
http://www.moodyloner.net/2007/05/wars-in-middle-east-are-officially.html