The Machines of War: Western Military Technology 1850–2000

From the standpoint of military technology, the 20th century divides between two eras. The first half of the century saw the culmination of the mechanization of armed forces that had begun midway through the previous century. During most of this period, European innovations dictated the pace and direction of change. World War II changed all that. Europeans became followers of military change driven by the arms race between the USA and the Soviet Union. Two innovations, both largely products of World War II, dominated the second half of the century but proceeded with surprisingly little interaction. One was the elaboration of nuclear arsenals and their delivery systems. The other was the radical reconstruction of conventional warfare through applied electronics, especially from the 1960s onward.     

Mobility and Regional Economic Downturns

In this paper I show how higher unemployment in a region may reduce thepopulation's residential mobility within that region. A period of higher unemployment creates more uncertainty among individuals about future income and place of employment so those with significant moving costs are more likely to consider delaying a move. Periods of relatively higher unemployment may also be characterized by fewer new hirings and fewer job quits, both of which tend to dampen mobility. A multinomial logit analysis using Panel Study of Income Dynamics data is used to examine the effect of state unemployment rates on the decision to move.