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The peace dividend is a budgeting approach where military funding is reduced to increase funding for social services or reduce taxes. It promotes economic benefits and can protect national security by providing social services to citizens.
The peace dividend is an approach to national budgeting in which funding for military purposes is reduced in the interest of reducing taxes or increasing funding for social services. Proponents of the peace dividend argue that it provides economic benefits, keeping nations strong in times of peace. Various nations have adopted this tactic, or vice versa, arguing that increases in military spending keep nations safer and promote the development of new technologies with potential civilian applications.
Military spending tends to increase during times of war, often taking money away from social programs. The economy may thrive due to increased demand for military hardware and other supplies, but when the nation returns to peacetime, economic slumps may occur as people readjust. By instituting a peace dividend, in which money is sent back to social programs, nations can address concerns about faltering economies by promoting social programs and supporting people.
This concept is closely related to the concept known as the butter gun theory. Under this theory, a very simplified model of government spending, people assume that the government can spend money on military matters or on developing goods. If the government allocates too much for the military, the production of goods will suffer and the population may suffer hardship. Conversely, spending too much on goods and not enough on the military can leave a country vulnerable to attack.
Military spending is a controversial topic around the world. Some social justice organizations believe this is excessive and have advocated for a peace dividend, reallocating funds to serve the general public. The military budget can be complex and is made more difficult to understand by the need for security, leading to obscurity when it comes to disclosures about how, when and where funds are used by the military. The presence of nebulous budgets for unknown purposes, often using unclear amounts of money, makes some economists, as well as activists, uneasy.
People also argue that the peace dividend, by promoting economic strength and providing social services to more citizens, can have the effect of protecting national security as well. Happy citizens with access to goods and services tend to be less likely to engage in unrest. In nations where social services are failing, riots are common and can sometimes be violent as people engage in protests, sabotage and other activities in an attempt to address social and economic disparities.
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