Faculty Research Fellow Neta Crawford Co-Authors Op-Ed on Impact of Defense Spending on COVID-19 Preparedness

Neta C. Crawford, Professor and Chair of the BU Department of Political Science and a Pardee Center Faculty Research Fellow, recently co-authored an op-ed in The Boston Globe arguing for decreased funding for the military and increased investment in public health programs and infectious disease research.

In the article, Prof. Crawford and Prof. Catherine Lutz, co-founders and co-directors of the Costs of War project, point out that, for almost twenty years, over two-thirds of the federal discretionary budget has been spent on defense.

“Instead of investing in programs and supplies that would have saved thousands of lives, our leaders were investing trillions in new weapons and continuing old wars,” they write.

Citing growing income inequality, vast racial disparities in COVID-19 mortality rates, and unequal access to jobs and health care, they argue that America’s “distorted priorities” are exacerbating the impacts of the pandemic.

“Now is the time for fundamental change premised on the value of real security as human security,” they write. “We can make our infrastructure both green and good for the economy. We can finance public education, public health, and high-quality veterans care. But, to do so, we have to reduce the Pentagon budget, invest in the programs actually keeping us safe and end the post-9/11 wars.”

Read the full article here.