Weapon costs follow the same handicap economics in nations as in individuals

Evidence

Just as luxury items such as yachts cost poor people more, and big weapons such as crab claws and antlers cost poor-quality males more, so, too, big-ticket weapons cost more to build in poor nations than they do in rich ones. An F-5 fighter costs more to produce in Spain or South Korea, for example, than it does in the United States, and still more for nations such as Ecuador. We can afford to mass-produce the planes in larger volumes, cutting the per-plane production cost enormously. We can afford to support a larger research and development program, giving us a head start on new innovations to fighter technology. We can afford to train a larger workforce skilled in the necessary technologies—everything from pilots to fly the plane to mechanics to repair it. All of these factors mean that rich nations pay an awful lot less per weapon for state-of-the-art things such as aircraft, submarines, missiles, and carriers than poorer nations do, exacerbating the differences between the haves and have-nots. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 924

Categorization

• XREF: Direct echo of the Zahavi handicap and differential-cost principle from earlier chapters — the same marginal-cost logic operating at the scale of nations. — connects to: Bigger weapons usually fail because their costs outweigh their benefits; Poor-quality males pay steeper costs for large weapons and so invest less — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 797; Modern naval weapons cost billions and thus only wealthy nations can field them — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 396 (+9 more)
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: does economic handicap predict that rich nations’ cheap weapons should make them the ‘high-quality males’ whose weapons are cheap but supremely effective, mirroring crab claws?

Related

• Weapon expense is what keeps signals of fighting ability honest (similarity 0.87)
• Poor-quality males pay steeper costs for large weapons and so invest less (similarity 0.85)
• Weapons evolve only when reproductive benefits exceed costs (similarity 0.84)
• Cold War weapons costs multiplied simultaneously across every system category (similarity 0.84)
• Modern naval weapons cost billions and thus only wealthy nations can field them (similarity 0.84)
• Bigger weapons usually fail because their costs outweigh their benefits (similarity 0.83)
• Only a minority of males can afford to build full-size weapons (similarity 0.82)
• Natural selection usually favors modest weapon size because cost offsets benefit (similarity 0.81)
• Predation risk is a near-universal cost of elaborate weapons (similarity 0.81)
• Cheap long-range weapons eroded the battlefield value of expensive armor. (similarity 0.80)
• Treason maintains equilibrium in segmentary societies as prices do in markets (similarity 0.80)
• Weapons grow late because development prioritizes mandatory survival expenses first (similarity 0.80)
• Some elaborate animal weapons are astonishingly cheap to produce and carry (similarity 0.80)
• Weapon growth widens the gap between the best- and worst-armed males. (similarity 0.80)
• Big weapons only benefit males with the reserves to wield them effectively (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Armor evolution tracks a benefit-cost trade-off identical to that shaping animal weaponry #expands (0.80) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 62
• Natural selection usually favors modest weapon size because cost offsets benefit #expands (0.75) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 21
• Weapon evolution needs both competition and economically defensible resources #expands (0.70) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 191
• Human armies and social insects solved the same weapon trade-off by role specialization #exemplifies (0.70) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 133
• Economic logic explains weapon evolution across virtually all animal species #expands (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 198