NATO countries now pay 4 times more for an artillery shell than they did before the war in Ukraine. At least that’s what Reuters claims, citing a top NATO general. It’s not hard to do the math on what this means for the ability to provide aid to anyone and for the ability to arm ourselves. The budgets approved in mid-2022 will buy 4 times less.
Our adversaries have state-owned enterprises making munitions, so there’s no threat of something like that.
However, that western setup has its advantages too. For example, the generals can buy shares in arms factories and make a profit.
But in the end. When we were told in our economics classes at university that state-owned enterprises were unable to compete with private ones and that private sector entry would lead to lower prices, I really believed it then.