NPR. In policy circles, there is this concept called the peace dividend.

The idea is that when wartime gives way to peace time, all of this money gets freed up.

A government can stop spending on tanks and fighter jets and

then it can redirect that money towards social services, housing, and other things

on the domestic policy wish list. In the US, the last time a peace dividend seemed to be

within grasp was after the end of the Cold War. Military spending fell

during the 90s to below 3% of GDP. That is about half of what it was during the 1980s when it was more like

6% of GDP. All of you know from personal experience how much American industry has been changed by the cutbacks and defense.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton visited a Westinghouse electric factory in Maryland to talk

about how military spending could be reinvested in the domestic economy.

The soldier statesman White Eisenhower once observed that the resourceful American makers of plow shares

could with time and as required make swords as well.

Our challenge is now to reverse the process.

Yeah, but this process was a challenge,

and the peace dividend has eluded the US economy ever since.

This is the indicator for Planet Money.

I'm Adrian Ma.

And I'm Waylon Wong.

Today wraps up our series on the defense industry.

On this show, if the peace dividend exists,

how can it be used effectively?

We talk to a researcher about how this process can work, and we look at how the state of California

...