Multicollinearity is one of the major methodological problems in the study of the guns‐growth trade-off. In this paper, we use ridge regression to separate the effects of individual variables influencing economic growth in the United States. Ridge is not a new method, but to the best of our...

Studies of the guns versus butter trade-off found no evidence for the existence of a trade-off in the pre-Reagan era (see Russett 1982; Domke, Eichenberg, and Kelleher 1983; Mintz 1989). This study extends prior research by examining not only the direct, immediate effects of defense spending but also...

Prior scholarly analysis of Israeli military spending has focused on national security questions. We present a mathematical model incorporating security threats as well as electoral cycles and corporate profits. The parameters are estimated empirically. The results support the idea that in...

Prior studies of the guns-versus-butter trade-off have focused on total military expenditures and sub-components of welfare spending (education, health, and housing). I extend the analysis to include the major sub-components of the defense budget. The results are consistent with Clayton's;...