Russ Roberts: commitment

Transcript context

…That’s correct. I think there’s a tension there that most economists who, like you and I — I don’t know about you; I shouldn’t say you — but certainly I was a very strong proponent of the volunteer army. I used to quote Milton Friedman all the time when he testified, allegedly, when he was advocating for a volunteer army that would be paid to come to serve rather than drafted. They said, “You’d want to be defended by an army of mercenaries?” He brilliantly responded, “Better than an army of slaves, where you force people to serve.” I always found that compelling, given my libertarian youth. But the argument on behalf of that, of why that was actually a good thing — besides philosophically — was, “Well, if we had to pay soliders instead of forcing them to serve and paying them a pittance, the budgetary costs of enlarging the army would start to bite, and that would discourage a large army.” I’m not sure that’s true. Because on the flip side, excuse me, on the other side is that if the average American doesn’t have to serve — which they don’t anymore — then it’s cheaper to go to war. I don’t know. I think that tension’s ignored by most of my friends who favor a volunteer army. Yes, I agree with that. Three simple questions to close, super simple.…

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