The economic justification for the Iraq war

A reader in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, sent me a letter (on paper! with a written in pen!) in response to my column a few weeks back about northern Virginia's astounding, taxpayer-funded prosperity ("The Federal Job Machine"). Apparently Oshkosh Truck Corp., maker of "the world's toughest specialty trucks and truck bodies," is doing famously these days, thanks to big orders from the U.S. military. According to a recent article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the company expects to hire several hundred people in the coming months:

"If you know any welders, send them our way," Robert Bohn, Oshkosh Truck Corp. chairman, president and chief executive officer said at the company's annual shareholders meeting in Appleton.

Sadly, I don't know any welders. Or at least I don't know that I know any. I do know some unemployed journalists, for whatever that's worth. Maybe they could learn welding.

Anyway, my Wisconsin reader cites the boom at Oshkosh Truck and concludes:

When the government stops spending and running huge deficits the system will collapse. Guys around here want the Iraq war to go on for a few more years.

I don't know that I agree with that "the system will collapse" prediction: Current deficits are not, by historical standards, all that huge. But still, it's an interesting thought, no?