Boeing CEO Confident in Military Spending No Matter Who Wins November Election

Defense spending a priority for both front-runners

The world’s largest spender on the military, the US chart of defense spending is remarkably straight-lined. Over the years, it traces steadily higher, and it may not be a perfect line, but it is an unmistakable trend.

Apart from huge outlier events, like World War 2, it’s remarkably consistent. Declines are brief and very temporary, and there is no correlation between things like ruling party and the trend the line is going to take in the next few years.

It is this reality that led Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, on a media appearance, to downplay the relevance of the November election, expressing confidence that military spending will be fine whether Trump or Biden ends up winning.

“I think both candidates, at least in my view, appear globally oriented and interested in the defense of our country,” Calhoun said, saying details may change, but no so far as they could pick one candidate as being better than the other.

It’s important for Boeing because their civilian business is down substantially, making the military business where their profits come from. The money will flow, Boeing assures, whether it is Trump or Biden finalizing the spending bills.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.