ENDLESS WARS — ENDLESS PRINTING

Sunday, April 29, 2001: for four months and 13 days, I was alive prior to the attacks on September 11. For practically my entire life, the United States has been embroiled in endless conflict.

After Afghanistan's refusal to extradite Osama bin Laden, George W. Bush declared war on Al Qaeda, dubbed the "war on terrorism." This was the next evolution in a series of wars on the abstract. That statement is not to take away from the tremendous grief and tragedy of the situation. Thousands of Americans lost their lives on 9/11, and thousands more would lose their lives in the decade-long wars to follow.

When the United States engages in war in its many forms, how do we finance it? The U.S. used to issue war bonds, and in times of strife the country would band together and purchase these bonds to help our brothers overseas — it was an act of patriotism. However, after the U.S. left the gold peg initially during WWI in 1913, there was no going back. Issuing paper currency during the battle was far easier, especially considering how frequently we'd be going to war in the decades after The Great War. To finance war, the government increases the supply of U.S. dollars domestically and abroad, both devaluing its own debt and increasing the invisible monetary burden of inflation on its citizens.

However, this essay seeks to lay out the utility of going to war — why does the United States roll out its printing press at the first sign of trouble? Why are we seemingly eager to engage in a conflict, whether it's a physical threat abroad or a metaphysical threat at home?