> Armchairs, > > The military's current stop-loss policy prevents certain service members > from leaving the service at the end of their normal enlistment contract. > This policy is affecting specific skills and grades deemed critical for the > war on terrorism. In econimic terms, what are the similarities and > dissimilarities between stop-loss and a conventional draft? >
If people don't want to be "stop-lossed", won't this make it harder to to convince them to enlist in the first place -- and won't this problem be worse for exactly those people likely to be placed in specific skills which are scarce? Of course, for those who know in advance they want a long-term military career, this will not be an issue. It will be an issue for those who know at enlistment they want a brief career. The "misallocation" will occur for those who decide after enlisting that they would rather get out -- but that missallocation is there to some degree in a fixed-length contract also. --Robert Book [EMAIL PROTECTED] University of Chicago
