|
Economic Aspects
In the United States there is certainly a widespread sense as to
the destruction and death that would come from nuclear war. As with
the eventual certainty of personal death, it is something of which
we are aware but which we put aside. Our reaction, as with death,
is not to contemplate but to mentally subdue or escape. As an aspect
of this escape, we do not reflect on the special vulnerability of
the United States to nuclear war, or even to relatively minor nuclear
assault. It is this which, as an economist, I here address.
Such is the vulnerability of the American economy that in the form
we know it, it could be brought to an end by the most elementary
of nuclear attacks. This could be accomplished by a tactical nuclear
weapon on downtown New York. With such an attack there would, of
course, be massive death and destruction. But additionally the American
economy would be made non-functional. No longer in the economic
world would it be known what was owned and what possessed in the
banks. That knowledge would be destroyed along with the people that
convey the information.
The trading of securities would, of course, come to an end but,
as seriously, so would the knowledge throughout the country of what
is owned. Those with ownership in and income from the financial
world — stocks, bonds and other financial instruments —
would find a record of their possessions eliminated. It would be
true for individuals and for corporations throughout the country.
Ownership would come to an end; of assets possessed there would
no longer be a record. Capitalism as it is known would be finished.
This, to repeat, would be the result of one small nuclear weapon.
This is a matter not discussed. More remarkable is that the issue
is evaded by those who would have most to lose. Generally speaking
it is political conservatives who resist nuclear arms control and
the reduction of the threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear war.
These are the individuals and institutions with the greatest stake
in capitalism and therefore its protection. Pressure for the control
of nuclear weapons and the elimination of nuclear threat comes from
the political Left, as indicated by all recent congressional action.
Neither Left nor Right have responded to the extraordinary vulnerability
of our economic system to nuclear war or even nuclear accident.
The time must come when, along with our moral obligation, we must
see that there are grounds for a very practical economic concern.
The American economy as we know it would be totally disabled and
destroyed by even the slightest nuclear action. This, on a rational
basis, should be a first concern of all defenders of the system.
John Kenneth Galbraith
Harvard University
777 UN Plaza - 6th Floor - New York, NY - 10017 - Ph: 212.682.1265 - Fax: 212.286.8211 - info@reachingcriticalwill.org
This site was created by Kache Productions ©2008
| 
