Princeton economist David Bradford once offered a simple thought experiment to illustrate how far such games could go. Suppose that policy makers wanted to slash defense procurement and reduce taxes, but did not want to undermine America's national security. They could square that circle by offering defense firms a refundable "weapons supply tax credit" for producing desired weapons systems. The military would still get the weapons deemed essential to national security, defense contractors would get a tax cut, and politicians would get to boast about cutting both taxes and spending. But nothing would have changed meaningfully.