by Ralph Nader
. . . First, Professor Melman cites the Report Card for America's
Infrastructure that was issued by the American Society of Civil
Engineers. One and a third trillion dollars are estimated for the
repair of twelve categories of public works, including schools,
drinking water systems, sewage systems, airports, public transit,
bridges and roads.
. . . Adding $618 billion for repair of U.S. housing and railroads
brings the capital improvement needs to a $2.0 trillion market, he
notes.
. . . The military economy drains the civilian economy and this
trend has been accelerating into what Melman called a "huge change"
in the American economy. He writes: "This deindustrialization has
happened so quickly that America's capacity to produce anything is
seriously undermined."
FULL TEXT
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"The Myth of the War Economy,"
Guardian, January 22, 2003
[A study by the Defense Department's inspector general found that
the Pentagon couldn't properly account for more than a trillion
dollars in monies spent.--Tom Abate, "Military waste under fire: $1 trillion missing,"
San Francisco Chronicle, May 18, 2003]
[As much as one trillion US dollars is annually being siphoned by the CIA
into the DoD for secret distribution to various military intelligence
agencies and the 'deep black' programs they respectively support.--Michael
E. Salla, "The Black Budget Report: An Investigation into the CIA's
'Black Budget' and the Second Manhattan Project," American University,
November 23, 2003]
Rachel Morris, "Shock and Audit: The Hidden Defense
Budget," Mother Jones, June 22, 2009]
