I think that is why war is such a big driver - if you are worried you could be wiped out cost goes out of the window!

There is a book I read a long time ago it is a kind of spoof in the form of a fake government document called The Report from Iron Mountain and puts forth the case for how the US would cope with a lasting period of peace!

It covers some of these issues. A lot of people believed it to be real but I think it is satire although it is written in the very dry style of a real government document.