Publication

This monograph focuses on two questions concerning what is most accurately described as the "military-industrial-Congressional" complex. First, does it function like a normal free market? Second, what has been the Department of Defense's approach to sustaining a strong, technologically vibrant and financially successful domestic defense industry? The paper argues that firstly, the US defense industry is a highly regulated sector in which the government is both the sole customer and the regulator. Secondly, the US government has historically shown little inclination to develop a coherent, long-term strategy for maintaining a healthy domestic defense industry, but rather taken a laissez-faire, hands-off approach.