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Less than a fifth of US public budget is spent on defense...

• notimetorelax 13y ago
  It's a lot, no?
  • mpyne 13y ago
    By GDP it's really not, no (about 4.7% for much more ability than any other nation). It's a lot in absolute terms, but so is the American economy. It is higher as a proportion of GDP than many of our NATO allies, but then again that's actually one of our complaints as Americans... ;)
    • summerdown2 13y ago
      It really is a lot in global terms. E.g.: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/7971d5fa4e474fa846811114bcfb374f.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/7971d5fa4... And the difficulty in spending this much comes in two ways: a) The more important your hammer becomes, the more everything looks like a nail. The US has frequently undertaken a military response for areas where other countries might use diplomacy. b) The military, plus contractors, plus jobs that depend on the military, plus PR and lobbying firms, all tend to distort politics in favour of increasing military importance. Don't get me wrong: the UK and EU in general owes a lot to US military power over the years and should thank the US for a lot of our freedoms. But there is a flip side, and I think it should be recognised that such a large amount of spending does distort things.
      • AlexeiSadeski 13y ago
        The US spends 2.5x as much on the military as does Poland, as a % of GDP. It's a lot, but not exactly extraordinary.