Measurements of the Economic Impact of Defense and Space Programs

Abstract

INFORMATION on the economic impact of defense and space expenditures is not a statistical luxury. It is necessary for important substantive purposes: (1) for making any sort of penetrating analysis of the factors influencing the development of a given regional economy or of many leading branches of industry, (2) for forecasting the impact on a region of shifts in its so-called exports to the government sector, and (3) for developing and choosing among alternative public policies to offset reductions in the total or, possibly of greater real importance, abrupt major changes in the composition of defense and space expenditures. Despite the vast amount of statistical information generated by Federal Government and other research organizations, important gaps continue to exist in the understanding of basic aspects of the economic impact of defense and space expenditures. This article covers three