Heritage's Annual Index of Military Strength
The Heritage Foundation posted its 2016 Index of Military Strength. They rate the Army as weak (based on low number of available Brigrade Combat Teams) and all other services as marginal.
The Heritage Foundation posted its 2016 Index of Military Strength. They rate the Army as weak (based on low number of available Brigrade Combat Teams) and all other services as marginal.
New report from Brookings by Matthew F. Cancian and Michael W. Klein:
In this paper, we show that the quality of officers in the Marines, as measured by scores on the General Classification Test (GCT), a test that all officers take, has steadily and significantly declined since 1980.
I would like to know if the result is robust across all branches of service.
This paper analyzed the quality of the officers of one branch of the military, the Marine Corps, and found a relevant and steady decline in intelligence, as measured by GCT scores, since 1980. This decline was closely associated with an expansion of the pool of young college graduates during the same time period, which potentially diminished the overall intellectual quality of that pool.
From an article in this week's Air Force Times:
Estimates suggest that a 1 percent change in prices will result in a greater than 1 percent change in the amount of products sold by stores, the researchers said.
"If these findings hold true for a change in the price of goods sold at commissaries, then an increase in prices will decrease revenues," the report stated.
Sounds like elasticity to me.
Last week, Todd Harrison presented a detailed trend analysis of defense spending. Using this trend analysis, he shows that the BCA caps may be a ceiling on defense spending rather than a floor.
You can watch the full presentation here.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has posted a report on March 18 that outlines four options for reducing defense spending:
Which option do you agree with and why? Which of these options is most politically expedient? Which will result in the best long-term outcome? Who are the winners and losers for each option?