Did US workers gain from US imperialism (1985–2000)?

This essay attempts to answer the following question: did US workers gain from US imperialism during the period 1985–2000? This period is of interest because it is during this period that neoliberalism emerged and Iraq had not been invaded. Very little economics literature has considered the costs and benefits of US imperialism to the United States, much less the distributional consequences of that imperialism. Lebergott and Zevin focus on the motivations of particular businesses and financiers and their interests in US military intervention abroad, particularly in Central and Latin America. ² Lebergott focused on imperialism at the turn of the century; Zevin covers a larger sweep of history. They both conclude that imperialism is neither necessary for the prosperity of the US economy as a whole, nor, indeed, is it necessarily good for the US economy. While they do not consider explicitly the effect on US workers, there is an implicit message in their essays. If imperialism costs workers anything, for example, if they have to pay taxes to finance the military, then, since they receive no benefits, workers are necessarily harmed by imperialism. The answer to the question in any particular historical period becomes an empirical question.