Castles, Battles, and Bombsreconsiders key episodes of military history from the point of view of economicswith dramatically insightful results. For example, when looked at as a question of sheer cost, the building of castles in the High Middle Ages seems almost inevitable: though stunningly expensive, a strong castle was far cheaper to maintain than a standing army. The authors also reexamine the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II and provide new insights into France's decision to develop nuclear weapons. Drawing on these examples and more, Brauer and Van Tuyll suggest lessons for today's military, from counterterrorist strategy and military manpower planning to the use of private military companies in Afghanistan and Iraq. "In bringing economics into assessments of military history, [the authors] also bring illumination. . . . [The authors] turn their interdisciplinary lens on the mercenary arrangements of Renaissance Italy; the wars of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon; Grant's campaigns in the Civil War; and the strategic bombings of World War II. The results are invariably stimulating."Martin Walker,Wilson Quarterly "This study is serious, creative, important. As an economist I am happy to see economics so professionally applied to illuminate major decisions in the history of warfare."Thomas C. Schelling, Winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics

Jurgen Brauer is professor of economics in the James M. Hull College of Business at Augusta State University and the author of Arms Trade and Economic Development. Hubert P. van Tuyll is professor of history and chair of the Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy at Augusta State University. He is the author of The Netherlands and World War I.

List of Figures and Tables	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Economics	p. 1
Economics	p. 6
Opportunity Cost	p. 11
Expected Marginal Costs and Benefits	p. 15
Substitution	p. 20
Diminishing Marginal Returns	p. 24
Asymmetric Information and Hidden Characteristics	p. 27
Hidden Actions and Incentive Alignments	p. 33
Conclusion: Econimics-and Military History	p. 39
The High Middle Ages, 1000-1300: The Case of the Medieval Castle and the Opportunity Cost of Warfare	p. 45
Opportunity Cost and Warfare	p. 49
The Ubiquity of Castles	p. 51
The Cost of Castling	p. 53
The Advantages of Castles	p. 59
The Cost of Armies	p. 66
Castle Building and the Other Principles of Economics	p. 72
Conclusion	p. 76
The Renaissance, 1300-1600: The Case of the Condottieri and the Military Labor Market	p. 80
The Principal-Agent Problem	p. 83
Demand, Supply, and Recruitment	p. 85
Contracts and Pay	p. 89
Control and Contract Evolution	p. 100
The Development of Permanent Armies	p. 104
Condottieri and the Other Principles of Economics	p. 114
Conclusion	p. 117
The Age of Battle, 1618-1815: The Case of Costs, Benefits, and the Decision to Offer Battle	p. 119
Expected Marginal Costs and Benefits of Battle	p. 122
The 1600s: Gustavus Adolphus and Raimondo de Montecuccoli	p. 127
The 1700s: Marlborough, de Saxe, and Frederick the Great	p. 137
Napoleonic Warfare	p. 147
The Age of Battle and the Other Principles of Economics	p. 154
Conclusion	p. 157
The Age of Revolution, 1789-1914: The Case of the American Civil War and the Economics of Information Asymmetry	p. 159
Information and Warfare	p. 163
North, South, and the Search for Information	p. 165
Major Eastern Campaigns through Gettysburg	p. 168
Grant in Virginia	p. 181
The American Civil War and the Other Principles of Economics	p. 190
Conclusion	p. 194
The Age of the World Wars, 1914-1945: The Case of Diminishing Marginal Returns to the Strategic Bombing of Germany in World War II	p. 197
A Strategic Bombing Production Function	p. 201
Bombing German War Production	p. 207
Bombing the Supply Chain and the Civilian Economy	p. 213
Bombing German Morale	p. 219
Assessing the Effect of Strategic Bombing	p. 224
Strategic Bombing and the Other Principles of Economics	p. 227
Conclusion	p. 235
The Age of the Cold War, 1945-1991: The Case of Capital-Labor Substitution and France's Force de Frappe	p. 244
History of the Force de Frappe	p. 248
The Force Post-De Gaulle	p. 257
Justifying the Force	p. 260
The Force's Effect on France's Conventional Arms	p. 267
Substituting Nuclear for Conventional Forces	p. 272
The Force de Frappe and the Other Principles of Economics	p. 282
Conclusion	p. 285
Economics and Military History in the Twenty-first Century	p. 287
Economics of Terrorism	p. 289
Economics of Military Manpower	p. 298
Economics of Private Military Companies	p. 307
Economics, Historiography, and Military History	p. 319
Conclusion	p. 322
Notes	p. 329
References	p. 367
Index	p. 387
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Castles, Battles, & Bombs

9780226071640

0226071642

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