Guns and Butter: The Economic Causes and Consequences of Conflict

Guns and Butter examines the causes and consequences of war from a political economyperspective, taking as its premise that a consideration of the incentives and constraints faced byindividuals and groups is paramount in understanding conflict decision making. The chapterauthors--leading economists and political scientists--believe that this perspective offers deeperinsights into war and peace choices than the standard state-centric approach. Their contributionsoffer both theoretical and empirical support for the political economy perspective on conflict.Several broad themes cut across the chapters: war as an equilibrium phenomenon rather than anexogenous process; the interaction of politics, economics, and institutions and its effect on thefrequency and severity of conflicts; the cost of fighting; and the often innovative character ofconflict. Topics addressed include theoretical aspects of the ways in which domestic politicsaffects the decision to go to war; globalization and its effect on the net supply of terrorism; openmarkets and the likelihood of war and domestic insecurity; the costs of going to war in Iraq ascompared to the costs of containment; the economic effects of the Rwandan genocide at a householdlevel; and the evolving industrial organization of terrorist groups. ContributorsBrock Blomberg,Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, Steven J. Davis, Michelle R. Garfinkel EdwardGlaeser, Gregory D. Hess, Kai Konrad, Kevin M. Murphy, Peter Rosendorff, Stephen Sheppard, StergiosSkaperdas, Constantinos Syropoulos, Robert H. Topel, Marijke Verpoorten

Gregory D. Hess is Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty and the Russell S. Bock Chair of Public Economics and Taxation at the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance at Claremont McKenna College.