Defense dollars, climate solutions and the search for an elusive peace dividend : The Indicator from Planet Money In the 1980s, California was the heart of the aerospace industry. But when the Cold War ended, military spending cuts put those defense jobs in jeopardy.

This week, we're bringing you a three-part series on the defense industry. In this episode: how the state redirected some of those defense dollars to another economic opportunity provides an example of how the "peace dividend" can be used effectively.

Related episodes:
Are we overpaying for military equipment? (Apple / Spotify)

Can Just-In-Time handle a new era of war? (Apple / Spotify)

Industrial policy, the debate! (Apple / Spotify)

Giant vacuums and other government climate bets (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

How to transform a war economy for peacetime

How to transform a war economy for peacetime

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Lockheed Aircraft corporations' plant in Burbank, California back in 1939. By the end of the Cold War, nearly 14,000 jobs were terminated when Lockheed shut most of its operations. AP hide caption

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Lockheed Aircraft corporations' plant in Burbank, California back in 1939. By the end of the Cold War, nearly 14,000 jobs were terminated when Lockheed shut most of its operations.

AP


In the 1980s, California was the heart of the aerospace industry. But when the Cold War ended, military spending cuts put those defense jobs in jeopardy.

This week, we're bringing you a three-part series on the defense industry. In this episode: how the state redirected some of those defense dollars to another economic opportunity provides an example of how the "peace dividend" can be used effectively.

Related episodes:
Are we overpaying for military equipment? (Apple / Spotify)

Can Just-In-Time handle a new era of war? (Apple / Spotify)

Industrial policy, the debate! (Apple / Spotify)

Giant vacuums and other government climate bets (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by
Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.