But his argument was not foolish; it was the assumptions underlying it that turned out to be wrong. Hansen did not anticipate the war’s huge capital-consuming effect, and that of many smaller wars, plus the long Cold War, in keeping capital scarce.
二战后的长期繁荣证明汉森的预言是错误的。但他的观点并不愚蠢；出错的是其基础假设。汉森没有预计到二战巨大的资本消耗效应以及众多小规模战争和长期冷战导致资本持续稀缺。在20世纪五六十年代，美国军事支出平均占GDP的10%。