The Money Behind Wars

Who pays for war, and who profits? Congress has investigated, a president warned, and the costs are documented.

In 1934–36 a Senate committee led by Gerald Nye held 93 hearings into whether arms makers and bankers — the 'merchants of death' — had pushed the United States into World War I. It documented large wartime profits but found little hard evidence of an active conspiracy to start the war. In his 1961 farewell address, President Eisenhower warned of the 'military-industrial complex', noting that 'this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience.'

Connected dossiers

The Federal Reserve and Jekyll IslandSame open question · Claims about who profits from money and war.9/11: What the Investigations FoundInfluence · The post-9/11 wars cost about $8 trillion.

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How to read the labels

Hero image: "85 Million Americans Hold War Bonds", a U.S. World War II poster (National Archives). Image: U.S. Government (National Archives) · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons. Evidence labels describe the written claims, not the image. Version 1 · updated 2026-10-22.