cee ae ee Be ee re me ee 0 OS mn

BISARMAMENT

‘Arms spending ‘is destroying jobs’

o

zs

JOIN THE GREAT

2 The arms race is ‘‘economically
urtful’’, destroying jobs, sapping
Productivity, and Canada has also
r damaged by the disease,

Oronto economist Mel Watkins
told an audience in Vancouver
Tuesday,

For years, it has been part of the
onal economic wisdom
: tarms spending is linked to pro-

Perity, he said. ‘‘But if arms spen-
a: 1s good, why is there so much
5 employment in the the United
cae — at a time of the greatest
lary spending in U.S. history?”’
hate a similar question could be
a in Canada where the military
$7 me Currently running at some
»/ billion annually, has been grow-
Ing by 15 to 20 percent over the last

Ce years.

th Despite that spending, ‘“‘we have
e Worst unemployment since the
idle an public sector wages
wai been cut to six and five per-
hee pany allowance increases
eae n Scrapped and universali-
been abolished.”
ES By following those policies, the
dis €mment has shown a wanton

Tegard for real needs,’’ he said.

Ware” a former leader of the
P e’’ movement within the
a2 and now a professor of
Ree at the University of
tenti nto, has gained national at-
ae On for his work on foreign
ED, of economy and
ee rights in the north. His
Sin Tuesday was sponsored by
mon Fraser University.

a

Carmela
Allevato

Barrister and. Solicitor

414 - 1200 Burrard St.,
Vancouver, B.C.
V6C 2C7
(604) 685-6235
@

Preferred areas of practice:
Divorce and family law

Wills and estates
General litigation

Although the economic effects
of arms spending had been given
little consideration in the
mainstream of economic thought,
he said, recent studies — many of
them done by women — have
revealed graphically the economic
damage wrought by arms expen-
ditures.

“The arms race damages the
economy and destroys jobs,” he
emphasized, citing two recent
studies, one prepared by USS.
researcher Marian Anderson and
another more recent study

prepared by the Michigan Research

Group. :

Anderson in her study, commuis-
sioned by the International
Association of Machinists which
has thousands of members in the
U.S. arms industry, showed that $1
billion spent in the civilian sector
could create 100,000 jobs in con-
struction or 187,000 jobs in educa-
tion.

The Michigan Research Group

_ study showed a similarly job loss

despite heavy military spending,
said Watkins.

Over the period 1968-72, when
arms spending in the U.S. was run-
ning at $80 billion the net job loss in
the U.S. was 840,000 jobs annual-
ly.

“The study showed that even
states with big military contracts
and major air force or army bases
lost jobs,’’ Watkins emphasized.

The main reason, he said, is that
arms spending is capital intensive
opposed to civilian spending which
tends to be labor intensive. A
statistic earlier emphasized that
point. dramatically: the money
spent to build just one nuclear sub-
marine — the Trident for example
— could provide 100,000 man-
years of nursing care for senior
citizens.

He also referred to studies which
demonstrate that arms spending
has a negative effect on productivi-
ty are mainly achieved through im-
provements in technology but
much of the research and develop-
ment inthe U.S. is military research
and does not have direct applica-
tion to civilian industry.

“Military research doesn’t pro-
duce civilian technology — it pro-
duces military technology,’’ he em-

(IES?

For any of your travel
needs, big or small.
Let Globe Tours find
the best way for you!

Hawaii @ Mexico @ Fiji

Las Vegas @ Reno ®@ Calgary
Montreal @ Paris @ London

GLOBE TOURS

253-1221

2679 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C. V5K1Z5

MEL WATKI isarmament
phasized. ‘The one way you can
get improvements in civilian
technology is by spending directly
on research and development in the
civilian sector.”’

It is for that reason that Japan
and West Germany, which have
spent relatively little on developing
military technology compared to
civilian industry, have ‘“‘better per-
forming economies,” he added.

“The U.S. can destroy the world
tomorrow,” he emphasized, ‘‘but
it can’t produce a car that will com-
pete with those produced with
Japanese technology.”

Missing from Watkins’ lecture
was a detailed outline of the role of
the multinational arms manufac-

turers in fuelling the arms race.”

However, he emphasized that in
the U.S., ‘‘national security and
commercial interests have
merged.”’

As a result, he said, the U.S.
defence department and the
government have assumed role of
“protecting sources of resources
for business interests and in
establishing U.S. spheres of in-
fluence in which business interests
can operate.”’ .

He also echoed comments by
another researcher, that the level of
arms spending in the U.S. and the
notion of the ‘‘Soviet threat’’

own material interests.’

‘shave more to do with the needs of
the arms manufacturers than with
any real threat to security.”’

The current state of the U.S.
economy has demonstrated that
current U.S. priorities have
nothing to do with the needs of the
people of the: U.S. since military
spending has been kept at enor-
mous levels while monetarist
policies, characterized by high in-
terest rates, have choked any
growth. The result, Watkins em-
phasized, is a. massive — and in-
creasing — deficit and a renewed
threat that rates will again go up.

“The only way to keep interest
rates down and to promote any

TRIBUNE PHOTO — SEAN GRIFFIN

economic recovery is to cut arms

‘gpénding?? <7 44 ot

Compelling government to do
that will be difficult, he warned,
noting that, in many cases ‘‘arms
spending continues despite public
opinion.”

But the growing disarmament
movement is compelling govern-

ments to consider that opinion and
as the movement grows, so will the

influence, he said.

“T want to leave with one
thought,” he told the audience.
“Working for disarmament will
not only increase your chances of
staying alive — it will also increase
your chances of getting a.job.”

Classified
Advertising

COMING EVENTS

FEB. 19 — FRC Valentine’s Day
banquet. and dance. Banquet 6
p.m., dance 9-1 to Harry
Hoshowsky’s orchestra. Russian
Peoples Home, 600 Campbell Ave.
Adm. $10, oap, unempl. $8.

FEB. 19 — Meet Ray Steven-
son, Canadian Peace Congress
vice-chairman, at a social evening,
8 p.m. 2666 Eton St.

FEB. 26 — Card night and social at
the Brown's, 12127-95A Ave., Sur-
rey. Games, refreshments and good
company, starting at 8 p.m. For
ride, ph. 590-1248.

FEB. 27-MAR. 27 — BASIC
SERIES ‘83: A series of four lec-
tures on Marxist theory and prac-
tice, Sundays (except Mar. 20) at
7:30 p.m. Classes on Marxist
philosophy, political economy and
the Communist Party. Registration fee
$10, pre-regis. only. For info. Miguel
254-9836 (wkdays).

MAR. 5 — Keep this evening open.
Gome and help celebrate Mona
Morgan’s 70th birthday. Details to
come.

MAR. 13 — International Concert
for Peace, featuring many perform-
ing groups, p.m. Russian
People’s Home, 600 Campbell Ave.
Sponsored by the Fed. of Russian
Canadians. Tea to follow the con-
cert program. All proceeds to the
peace movement.

COMMERCIAL

GRAMMA PUBLICATIONS.
Complete printing services. Bro-
chures, menus, leaflets, etc. Spe-
cial rates for the progressive move-
ment. A union shop. 1595 W. 3rd
Ave., Van. 733-6822.

ROOF REPAIRS — New roofs.
Reasonable. Ph. 277-3352.

ELECTRICAL, plumbing, appli-
ance repairs. Don Berg. 255-7287.

FRUIT TREES need pruning?
Now’s the time. Also any other yard
work. Mike Parker, 937-5017.

FOR SALE

1973 VOLKSWAGEN camperized
van, good and solid, $3,200.
526-5226.

FOR RENT

@ Divorce and Family Law

@ Personal Injury and |nsurance Claims
@ Real Estate and Conveyancing

RANKIN & COMPANY

Barristers & Solicitors

4th Floor, 195 Alexander St.,
Vancouver; B.C. V6A 1N8

682-2781
Offers a broad range of legal.services including:

@ Labour Law
@ Criminal Law
@ Estates and Wills

‘You ave cordially invited
to join us Deb, 25
for a banquet and entertainment
and to meet
eminent scholars from the Ukraine
Russian People 4 Htome,
600 Campbell Ave. at 7 p.m.

Advance tichets only are available

from Canada- USSR Association

members or from the “Russian Half.
Admission is $8.

ONE-BDRM. bsmt. ste. Partly fur-
nished, well-heated. Vicinity 6th
and Victoria, $200 mo., util. incl.

Avail. immed. Non-smoker.
254-9337.

LEGAL SERVICES
RANKIN, McMURRAY &

BOND, Barristers & Solicitors. 157
Alexander St., 2nd Floor, Van-
couver. 682-3621.

DIRECTORY

COMMUNIST PARTY OF CAN-
ADA offices located at 102-2747 E.
Hastings St., Van. Ph. 254-9836.
For information on political issues
or assistance in political activity.

HALLS FOR RENT

RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME —
Available for rentals. For reserva-
tions phone 254-3430.

WEBSTERS CORNERS HALL —
Available for banquets, meetings,
etc. For rates: Ozzie, 325-4171 or
462-7783.

UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CUL-
TURAL CENTRE — 805 East Pen-
der St., Vancouver. Available for
banquets, weddings, meetings. Ph.
254-3436.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— FEBRUARY 18, 1983—Page 11