Curriculum War, Peace & Security Economics
War, Peace & Security Economics
The economics of conflict and security - what wars cost, how they are paid for, defence budgets, the arms trade, rebuilding after war, and the price of cyber threats.
- The Economic Costs of War How economists measure the damage wars cause, from destroyed buildings and lost lives to disrupted trade and long-lasting harm to growth. 📄 Read-aloud
- How Governments Pay for Wars The three ways governments finance wars - taxes, borrowing and printing money - and the lasting effects of each. 📄 Read-aloud
- Defence Spending: Guns vs Butter How countries decide how much to spend on defence, the trade-off with other spending, and how global military spending has changed. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Global Arms Trade Who sells and buys weapons around the world, why the trade is dominated by a few countries, and the economic and ethical debates it raises. 📄 Read-aloud
- Blockades and Economic Warfare How countries have tried to defeat enemies by cutting off their trade and resources, from Napoleon's blockade to naval blockades in the world wars. 📄 Read-aloud
- Rebuilding After War What helps economies recover after conflict, why some recover quickly while others fall back into war, and the role of aid. 📄 Read-aloud
- War, Peace & Security Economics: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on the costs of war, war finance, defence spending, the arms trade and reconstruction. 5 questions
- The Conflict Trap: Why Poverty and War Feed Each Other How poverty raises the risk of civil war and war deepens poverty, and what economic research says about breaking the cycle. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Economic Effects of Terrorism How terrorism affects economies through lost lives, fear, tourism, investment and security spending, and what research shows about its long-run costs. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Peace Dividend What happened when military spending fell after the Cold War, how the savings were used, and why the dividend has now reversed. 📄 Read-aloud
- From Military Labs to Everyday Life How military research has produced technologies used in everyday life, and the debate over whether defence spending is a good way to fund innovation. 📄 Read-aloud
- War and Commodity Prices How wars disrupt supplies of oil, gas, grain and fertiliser, sending prices soaring far from the fighting, with the 2022 invasion of Ukraine as a key example. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Economics of Cybersecurity Why companies and individuals often underinvest in cybersecurity, how ransomware became a business, and what policies aim to fix the incentives. 📄 Read-aloud
- Piracy and Attacks at Sea How piracy off Somalia and attacks on ships in the Red Sea disrupted trade, raised shipping costs and prompted naval responses. 📄 Read-aloud
- India and China: Economics After Galwan How India responded economically to the 2020 border clash with China - app bans and investment restrictions - and why trade between the two kept growing anyway. 📄 Read-aloud