The Pentagon and the Sunshine State

Abstract

Military expenditures exert enormous impacts on regional economies throughout the nation (Malecki 1984; Cypher 1985; O'hUallachain 1987; Browne 1988; Kirby 1992; Hall and Markusen 1992; Warf and Glasmeier 1993). Many communities- most notoriously, southern California- are addicted to the flows of Pentagon contracts that have sustained them for decades. Markusen (1986) argues that Pentagon spending acts as a form of "military Keynesianism" enhancing the economic and spatial restructuring of the U.S. economy. This issue has become increasingly important in light of the end of the Cold War and subsequent reductions in military expenditures.