Can the Military Boost Economic Growth?

In his 1913 study Krieg und Kapitalismus (“War and Capitalism”), economist Werner Sombart argues that the operations of European militaries helped to usher in capitalism and the Industrial Revolution. Sombart proposes that early modern warfare was Janus-faced. In the short term, it was economically destructive, yet in the long run, it made possible the highly productive modern economy. This notion reappears in other books by Sombart, notably The Quintessence of Capitalism.