The key component of the Think Tanks for a Secure Free Society mission is to promote the work of think tanks that “Engage in issues where economics intersects with security, intelligence, and defense.” While this network is continually developing, we have been able to identify a handful of experts that are well versed in both the security arena and economic analysis. One of these experts is Frank Harvey of Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute, who we have included in our work over the past several years. Frank’s most recent report was cited in this interesting article that attempts to answer ever increasing security spending leads to unattainable expectations.
As government spending on homeland security increases, the public’s expectation that their government will keep them safe also rises, making it increasingly difficult to meet those expectations, which in turn requires more security spending.
Call it the homeland-security dilemma.
”It’s kind of like an investment. If you invest in something, you expect to get something in return,” said Frank Harvey, who recently outlined his theory in a report for the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, where he is a research fellow.
In Harvey’s view, the United States and even Canada are headed toward a political environment where their investments in homeland security create the public expectation of virtually unattainable returns.
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