The never-ending "war" we insist on having is also highly related to the economy. Since WWII, we've essentially propped the US economy up on the defense industry. If you add up all the defense related spending, including contractors and subcontractors, it almost certainly amounts to a hugely significant portion of our economy, and more importantly employs a massive segment of the population.

Folks on the right talk about not wanting to create a welfare state, to have a large segment of the population dependent on the federal government for their livelihoods. Yet those same folks will spend as much as possible on the defense industry, ostensibly doing just that.