3 ms·
The US spends 3.3% of GDP on military whereas France spends 2.3%, so while excluding this makes the delta larger, it won't make a significant dent.
by jules 9y ago
The US spends 3.3% of GDP on military whereas France spends 2.3%, so while excluding this makes the delta larger, it won't make a significant dent.
- curun1r 9y agoIIRC, that 3.3% is just for the 5 branches of the military and doesn't include intelligence spending (~$80b/yr) or the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which are around $2.4 trillion dollars thus far over ~14 years. A more honest number is probably above 4%.
- huac 9y agoFair, though France's military spending is the highest in Europe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_...). My understanding is that US spending is relatively 'inefficient' compared to European countries, esp for healthcare. We spend more for comparatively worse outcomes (this is definitely true when compared to UK NHS, probably for France too).