Early RAND was exceptional in nurturing young talent for the purpose of serving military-related objectives, but this doesn’t prove the benefits to society exceeded the costs. In the case of RAND, the costs include the distortionary effects its work had on academic disciplines, and the opportunity cost of diverting human and physical capital away from other, possibly more productive endeavors.

Christopher J. Coyne is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, and Co-Editor of The Independent Review.
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Brittany L. Bills is a graduate student in the Department of Economics at George Mason University.
Defense and Foreign PolicyDefense BudgetEconomyFree Market EconomicsPrivatizationRegulationScience and Public Policy
Other Independent Review articles by Christopher J. Coyne
Spring 2024 Murray Rothbard on War and Foreign Policy
Fall 2023 Kenneth Boulding: Knowledge, Conflict, and Power
Summer 2023 A Symposium on Gene Sharp’s The Politics of Nonviolent Action
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