Defense Peace and War Economics

This Element surveys the field of defense peace and war economics with particular emphasis on the contributions made by Austrian economists. I first review treatments of defense peace and war by the classical economists. I then discuss the rise of a distinct and systematic defense peace and war economics field of study starting in the 1960s. Next I consider the contributions by Austrian economists to the field. This includes the economic analysis of the nature of the war economy problems with the public good justification for the state-provision of defense the seen and unseen costs of war the idea of the liberal peace and the realities and limitations of foreign intervention. I conclude with a discussion of some open areas for future research.