Ballistic Missile Defense

The Full Costs of Ballistic Missile Defense

This report, edited by Richard Kaufman, with chapters by Rodney Jones, David Gold, and William Cox, outlines the full costs of a multi-layered ballistic missile defense system with land, sea, air, and space-based components. The report notes that "If a goal of full deployment of ground, sea and air-based systems by 2015 is to be met, half the costs — about $500 billion — could be incurred in the next 13 years...Under this demanding schedule, spending must increase very rapidly...reaching perhaps...$50 billion by 2007." If the military budget were not increased to cover spending on BMD, "then BMD would displace nearly 6% of other defense spending by 2005 and more than 12% from 2007 through 2011," according to the report. Drs. Kenneth J. Arrow and Lawrence R. Klein served as economic advisors to the project team.

The Full Costs of Ballistic Missile Defense is available as a PDF.

Our work on this project includes:

• Deploying a Campaign Promise (Matt Martin, May 2003)

• Missile Defense: Can Anything Be Done (Richard Kaufman, May 2003)
  From the Activist's Notebook: Thinking Geopolitically: NMD, Star Wars and Control of the Heavens and the Earth Below (Bruce Gagnon, December 2001)

• US Missile Defense After the Bush-Putin Summit (Lisbeth Gronlund, December 2001)

• Missile Defense: A Deadly Danger (James Galbraith, April 2001)

• Beyond NMD, Bush Team Envisions Weaponization of Space (Karl Grossman, April 2001)

• Take A Stand: Question National Missile Defense (Daryll Kimball, April 2001)

• NMD: A Surprising Twist Proposed by 'Some' Russians (Victor Mizin, April 2001)

• Missile Defense Complicates US-Russia Relations (Paul Podvig, November 2000)

• The Planned US National Missile Defense: Will it Work? (George Lewis, July 2000)

Offsets and Economic Development (2002–2005)

In 2002, EPS initiated a project on the economic costs, benefits, and unintended consequences of the use of barter arrangements, or "offsets," in international arms transfers.

Using the relationships of our international affiliates, and funds from the Eisner Project Development Fund, we co-hosted a conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The primary aim of the conference was to facilitate and stimulate academic study and discussion of arms trade offsets and economic development internationally and in South Africa.

The conference:

• Brought together international and local experts in the area;

• Brought together academics, policy makers, civil society and journalists;

• Considered international experience and policy on offsets;

• Considered the South African experience in this light;

• Recommended policy principles for South Africa and the developing world.

Papers from the conference have been collected (with other commissioned articles) in Arms Trade and Economic Development: Theory, Policy and Cases in Arms Trade Offsets. (Brauer, Jurgen and Paul Dunne, eds. Routledge, 2004.)

Offsets Links

• EPICOS: EPICOS is a international e-business intelligence platform for Aerospace and Defence - providing information services and applications for opportunities on Procurements, Offsets and Industrial Co-operation.

• FAS: The Federation of American Scientists keeps a resource page on offsets in the defense industry.

• GAO: This is the accessible text file for the US Government Accountability Office report number GAO-03-649
  entitled 'Defense Trade: Report and Recommendations of the Defense Offsets Commission Still Pending'
  which was released on May 30, 2003.

Land Trust for Vieques (1998–2002)

With the strong support and the enthusiasm of our founder, Robert J. Schwartz, ECAAR/EPS undertook a major effort to study the economics of developing a land trust for demilitarized land on the island of Vieques, where at the time the US military conducted training using live munitions.

Our work on this project includes:

• New Prospects for Vieques (EPS Quarterly, May 2002)

• ECAAR Mobilizes NGO Opposition to Military Exercises on Vieques (EPS Quarterly, April 2000)

• ECAAR Promotes Land Trust for Vieques (EPS Quarterly, December 1999)