Paying the Costs of Competition

Chris, Melanie, and Zack discuss a recent article by Rosella
Cappella Zielinski and Samuel Gerstle in the Texas National
Security Review. Zielinski and Gerstle explain why the United
States should fund the defense budget with higher taxes, not more
debt, while conceding that this will be a tough sell for a
country trying to maintain the status quo, as opposed to rising
powers like China that are trying to upset it. Are they right?
Must taxes be raised in the United States to pay for competition
with China? If so, can the Biden administration and Congress
craft a message that will resonate with the public? Or is there
another way to produce the money that will go for long-term
defense? Grievances for Jake Sullivan’s speech at the Brookings
Institute, yet the latest sign of the Biden administration’s
protectionist turn; NATO’s plan to expand to the Indo-Pacific;
and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) for blocking military
promotions. Shoutouts to the Australian government for their new
Defence Strategic Review and a remembrance of Allen Gyngell, the
noted Australian security expert, who recently passed away.


 


Episode Reading: 


https://warontherocks.com/2023/05/paying-the-costs-of-competition