Do you guys think or feel that if this war happens...
Ammo prices gonna go up again?
I never owned guns when 2001 happened, cause I was in high school. Did it go up then?
In 2001, the fed cut the interest rates in half. About a year later, the pre-2001 mortgage interest rates at around 12-13% dropped again to 3-4%. Before that, people had equity in their homes they couldn't borrow against due to deflated home prices (the markets had been declining for almost a decade), and people couldn't afford to do what they wanted without their #1 investment having any liquidity short of selling.
When rates dropped every sector saw increased demand -- and rising prices. I bought this house in Oct 2001, because I saw the market starting to heat up here. I paid $383K, and last week my county tax appraisal came in for over $1M for the first time since I bought it.
I don't believe going to war in Iraq caused ammo prices to rise. I think the policies and actions taken under Bush after 9/11 to keep us from collapsing caused a serious upswing in the economy. That automatically caused increases in products, raw materials, wages and so on.
Then there's the money borrowed to finance the war. That money was spent, further infusing money into the economy.
Lots more factors that caused prices to rise than just the existence of a war. I think the 9/11 attack, and the administration's response to it, were more likely factors than the war itself.
The military has its own ammo plants. So, an increase in demand there, to a point, shouldn't affect prices on the civilian market. However, I've never read anything about where they get their materials. If they are competing for materials with private factories, then I suppose that could cause a rise in ammunition prices. Something tells me they routinely buy in such large quantities, they have enough on hand to handle any increases in production for at least a couple of years.
I have wished someone would give details on the lifecycle of an ammo round from raw material to operator use. But, I can imagine they don't want the supply chain details made public over concerns it could be disrupted during a time of increased production.
https://coffeeordie.com/lake-city-ammo-plant/