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CRS: U.S. economy linked to national security

Economics is a growing factor with regard to national security. The Congressional Research Service has put out a paper that says U.S. security has long been con...

Federal News Network Staff

February 1, 2011 2:28 pm

< a min read

Economics is a growing factor with regard to national security.

The Congressional Research Service has put out a paper that says U.S. security has long been connected to its economic power and global leadership. Now it’s involved in a long war against acts of terrorism while it faces economic hardships.

The global financial crisis – combined with the U.S. recession – have highlighted a trade-off between spending money on protecting itself against external threats – and spending to provide jobs and income for its citizens.

The report says factors like economic growth and unemployment have traditionally been thought of as domestic problems, separate from national security. But the world has changed. Globalization, the rise of China, a growing and unsustainable amount of debt, huge federal budget deficits, and high unemployment have made economics much more connected to national security.

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