This goal turns out to work remarkably well in a critique of U.S. arms export policy. And while the green market grows, the U.S. share of it is forecast to shrink. In part this is because among the world's major trading nations, we spend the least public money, relative to the size of our economy, to compete in this market.
None appear likely for environmental technologies.
Although the up-front money will come from the defense contractors themselves, defaults will be paid for by the taxpayers. Reversing these investment priorities would not only have the effect of improving world health and productivity through environmental protection. It would also help to boost overall levels of commercial activity around the planet. Following the end of the Cold War, many defense contractors correctly identified the growth potential of green technologies and made efforts, some of them successful, to take advantage of it. These efforts have been hurt, however, by the pattern of government subsidies outlined here, coupled with the absence of a substantial conversion program offering them the help they need to make the transition.