Military spending as a percent of GDP is remarkably low.
Only liars would use something like total 1945 dollars versus total 2008 dollars to create a "highest level" comparison.
Posted on 10/08/2008 9:34:25 PM PDT by RWB Patriot
WASHINGTON — With the U.S. economy in crisis and military spending at its highest level since World War II, military officials and experts are worrying that America may have to start reining in defense spending.
In the fiscal year that just ended, the U.S. spent $694.2 billion on defense, up 52 percent from the 2000 defense budget in constant dollars. (That year, the department spent $292 billion .) The fiscal 2008 total includes $514.2 billion in the defense budget and another $180 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , which have been financed through so-called "supplemental" budgets.
Eight years of borrowing to pay for the Iraq and Afghan wars, coupled with an aging baby boomer population, growing health care costs and a push to enlarge the Army , could force legislators to make tough decisions about which needs should take priority, and the next president to reassess how much the military can do.
Congress' decision earlier this month to approve a $700 billon bailout for the financial industry adds to the strain on the federal budget, and the stock market decline and the credit crunch could slow economic activity and eliminate jobs, which in turn could reduce tax revenues.
"How the U.S. government funds its military answers the question of: How committed it is to fighting these kinds of war?" said James Quinlivan , a senior military analyst and mathematician at the RAND Corporation .
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
That's a lie. Stand by.
Somehow, I doubt it’s as big a drain as they claim it is. And I can think of quite a few other government programs that should be cut because they serve no positive purpose.
Military spending as a percent of GDP is remarkably low.
Only liars would use something like total 1945 dollars versus total 2008 dollars to create a "highest level" comparison.
The Pentagon truly needs its own, internal, black budget, keep secret from congress, the GAO, etc. It does not have to be as dishonest as it sounds, but instead uses a principle of “financial inductance”.
An inductor is a passive electronic component, often a coil of wire. When a current is applied to it, it turns into a strong magnetic field around the inductor. When the magnetic field finally collapses, it turns back into a current.
So the Pentagon would fund enormous contracts for many years, and the money would be in the hands of the contractors. But while the contractors would gain the interest from the money, it is unlikely that the contract will be fulfilled. So when the contracts are canceled, the contractor returns the now off-budget money to the Pentagon, which can then use it to support de-funded critical programs.
Congress and the GAO would see that the Pentagon’s budget had been exhausted, but they wouldn’t see the return of funds, which would be off budget.
Financial inductance.
Oh, and of course, having a woman raise her own children doesn't help GDP...but hiring daycare sure does! OOOH, how PRODUCTIVE we are, compared to back in the 1950s!
GDP--A leftie concept that RINOs have realized they can use to fool the American public.
BTW, see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2101057/posts
THANKS, I was rushing around to find the stats.....these lies are coming fast and furious. And her last name is youssef...wonder where she’s from?
Cheers!
I didn’t see anywhere in that article what percent of the budget is taken up by military spending. Isn’t it something more like twenty percent? In the middle of a war, why not cut welfare instead?
I didn’t see anywhere in that article what percent of the budget is taken up by military spending. Isn’t it something more like twenty percent? In the middle of a war, why not cut welfare instead?
Comparing apples to apples, adjusted-for-inflation numbers, just the baseline budget (which doesn't include the special items like the special authorizations for Iraq, nukes, etc.) is about equivalent to our 1943 military budget.
When you figure those items in, we are spending more now in equivalent dollars than we did at our peak of WWII.
So is it any wonder we have this... 
Washington, DC, area...she went to University of Virginia for undergrad, and then to Johns Hopkins for graduate work.
Gross Domestic Product is the stuff we make (productivity), not the stuff we consume (spending). The difference is savings, which can be either positive or negative.
Regardless, the point is that military spending is quite affordable at today’s levels compared to WW II, putting the lie to the author’s first paragraph.
I'm not going to defend debt or spending. But economically speaking, whether we can afford the debt load we have depends on our ability to produce. I'll agree it's getting high-ish, but we've seen these levels before and worked them down. It's not the end of the world.
Yes, again and again, that bogus GDP.
You're counting debt alone, not total obligations. In the old days, we didn't make such lavish future promises, so looking at just the debt is extremely underestimating the problem.
Out total obligations (including pensions promised, etc.) is more than $50 trillion!
Fair enough. Soc Sec, Medicare and Medicaid will trash all possible scenarios.
I’m going to flee the USD because they’ve proved they’ll inflate their way out of any crisis.
If you don’t like GDP, produce a cogent argument against it.
And GDP does not measure production...it measures our consumption.
Import something from China and offload it at an American port and you've just... >drum roll< ...boosted our GDP! Then, burn some gas and ship that trinket to a warehouse. Again, more GDP. Then ship it to a store. More GDP! Wow, we're producing lots here!!! (sarcasm :-)
Now, sell it at a retail store...and even MORE GDP!
And since it's just a cheap import from China, it breaks and we get to do the whole thing again in a year.
Contrast that with times right after WWII. We domestically make a trinket that's high quality and sell it here or overseas. Not much GDP, especially since it lasts.
Which helps our economy overall...producing something, or importing from China?
And remember, much of our adult population (women) didn't contribute to GDP back then, even though they worked hard and supported productive activities. But now, hiring a nanny/day-care DOES contribute to the GDP.
Don't drink the leftie Kool-Aid about how great GDP is, and how the debt isn't really that much of a worry. It's hugh, and I'm series.
I believe you're wise.
This selling out of America hurts me to my deepest core.
For the what we rack up to pay for the Iraq War, we could cover every drop of foreign oil we import.
I doubt Osama bin Laden would have done nearly the damage to us that we did to our own future via our economy. Do you really think Iraq would have done something like 80 times the damage as Hurricane Katrina?
I want to win the war, and there's no use crying over spilt milk, but it's important to face the facts and learn from them, IMO.
The fact they're unconstitutional matters not.
GDP is measured by spending though, not by what is produced. This encourages the old mantra that spending is “good” for the economy. And savings hurts the GDP number. That makes no sense. We really to much on numbers and equations.
Nothing the government does is affordable. This country is broke. While military spending is the last place I would cut, it isn’t an insane proposal to streamline the military and at least trim the fat.
The problem is production is not keeping up with spending. We as citizens and a nation spend and consume more than we produce and save. And the problem now is we no longer produce as much in industry. Plus, the government has entitlement programs and promises to keep ranging up to and above $50 trillion dollars. There’s no way the debt gets lower unless something fundamentally changes about the way our government works.
Same here. I would always get angry when Austrian economists would say the dollar is going to collapse because it sounded unpatriotic... until I looked at the facts and realized they were just making an observation. Then it made me hate the government.
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