On the Assertion that Reagan's Military Build-Up Won the Cold-War

Not so, according to economists, Robert Wenzel and David Stockman (the latter obviously being President Reagan's first budget director and ultimate renegade). These men specifically assert that a) most of the new military spending was budgeted on conventional weaponry (as opposed to nuclear) the likes of which we would have never used against the Soviets and b) the plain fact that the U.S.S.R.'s military spending as a percentage of GDP was essentially a flat-line for the full duration of Reagan's presidency. Yes, they do give him credit for arms control and for fostering an excellent relationship with Gorbachev but they feel (and I fully agree) that the Soviet system basically fell of its own accord and that Reagan just happened to be there.