F35 procurement is made from something like 40+ states. This makes zero sense from an engineering/supply chain perspective (consider the fact that Toyota has the vast majority of its domestic supply chain within Aichi prefecture, up to 3 levels of sub-suppliers down).
Much of defense spending is a jobs program that is brought home by congressmen to their home states. (and when it's a jobs program, supply of prospective employees outpaces demand, and thus you likely won't have wage growth)
Sounds less like a ding on defense spending than a ding on labor market demand. Imagine just how many industries and entire localities would lose their base income sources if defense spending were 0.
I wonder how it would change if the “make work” government institution were NASA. I imagine their projects would employ more people across more diverse fields.
The Army can do everything from dig ditches to build sheds and structures - its there to have the sheer physical ability of killing its enemies to varying degrees of dead.
Much of defense spending is a jobs program that is brought home by congressmen to their home states. (and when it's a jobs program, supply of prospective employees outpaces demand, and thus you likely won't have wage growth)