Lew Rockwell on the likely ratchet effect after 9/11

Robert Higgs, author of Crisis and Leviathan, has shown how government grows the most during times such as these.  In a usual wartime situation, the government massively expands and then falls back only partially after it is over.  This creates a ratchet effect that guarantees a relentless march of the state.  Every new spending program creates a precedent said to apply in peace time.  How often have we heard calls for a "Marshall Plan" to solve this or that social issue?

~ Lew Rockwell, “What Not To Do,” Mises Daily, September 14, 2001

1987