The Evolution of Economic Warfare

Churchill never said “we will fight them in the spreadsheets…”. But maybe he should have done. The second world war, like every other war in human history, was decided by how each side allocated its resources. In this episode, Duncan Weldon, author of the new book ‘Blood and Treasure, The Economics of Conflict from the Vikings to Ukraine’, explains how countries have historically thought about the economics of war – and how the Ukraine war is changing that. He and host Soumaya Keynes also discuss how conflict shaped economic institutions and the modern world.

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Further reading: 

Vladimir Putin’s war economy is cooling, but Russians still feel richer: https://www.ft.com/content/485aba41-1148-4f2c-b0ab-97aac5e50727 

Russia’s war economy fuels rustbelt revival: https://www.ft.com/content/559ca59f-7fdc-4c47-8e87-edb562acdc7b 

Defence spending is up – but on all the wrong things: https://www.ft.com/content/11a6b844-fe57-4e39-86ba-bb04e839bf2f 

Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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