guns and butter
Defense versus welfare
Guns and butter represents the classic economic tradeoff between military spending and civilian goods.
A nation must choose how to allocate limited resources between defense and domestic welfare: The debate over guns and butter intensifies during wartime.
The phrase often frames political arguments about national priorities and budget allocation.
- military budgetFunding for armed forces
- national defenseProtecting a country militarily
- gunProjectile-launching weapon
- consumer goodsProducts bought by individuals
- opportunity costSacrificed alternative's worth
spending priorities · tax dollars · arms race · macroeconomics · resource allocation · public health · national security · defense industry · fiscal policy · education funding · trade-off · war economy · peace dividend · cost-benefit analysis · social programs · domestic policy · bread and circuses · food stamps
guns and butterfree lunch
Benefit without payment
magic money tree · win-win · post-scarcity · complementarity · synergy
guns and butterdeficit spending
Expenditures funded by debt
print money · isolationism · Reaganomics · supply-side economics
guns and butterausterity
Enforced economic stringency
scarcity · economic collapse · deprivation · rationing · want
guns, gunner, gunning, gunned, butter, butters, buttered, buttering, buttery