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I would love to see a subsequent visualization illustrating where all this capital goes.

ck2 15y ago
Most of debt is from war because you don't have to have it funded to start one and once it's rolling well "gotta support the troops". Then the interest starts adding up fast. Since the WTC demo is reduced to "half trillion floors", that means half of the first floor would be the entire lifetime cost of the NASA shuttle program. Iraq War(s) would be the next five floors. Doesn't include Afghanistan or Libya or Yemen. Or our troop presence around the world like in Japan for some reason. Next two floors would be the cost for heath care and benefits for injured/killed troops through 2050.
- ddw 15y ago
  Interesting. I imagine it wouldn't have been too hard for the creators of this graphic to include that, but for some reason they left it out (hmm!). Good example of how data visualization can be misleading.
- melling 15y ago
  Can you provide a link that shows the actual numbers? This link says the war is $1.3 trillion. The national debt is $14 trillion. http://costofwar.com/en/ http://costofwar.com/en/
- potatolicious 15y ago
  I'm against the wars - but IMO there's a good reason the US has a presence around the world in places like Japan. The entire point of being a superpower is being able to project this power in any corner of the globe. China is investing heavily in its navy right now since it distinctly feels the lack of ability to do the same. When Chinese shipments came under pirate attack off the coast of Somalia, it took forever and a day for any forces to be dispatched, compared to the US whose naval and air presence is available within hours around the world by virtue of having bases in foreign countries.
- sigil 15y ago
  "Most of the debt is from war" is not true. This site has some good information: http://usgovernmentspending.com/ http://usgovernmentspending.com/

ck2 15y ago

Most of debt is from war because you don't have to have it funded to start one and once it's rolling well "gotta support the troops". Then the interest starts adding up fast. Since the WTC demo is reduced to "half trillion floors", that means half of the first floor would be the entire lifetime cost of the NASA shuttle program. Iraq War(s) would be the next five floors. Doesn't include Afghanistan or Libya or Yemen. Or our troop presence around the world like in Japan for some reason. Next two floors would be the cost for heath care and benefits for injured/killed troops through 2050.

ddw 15y ago
Interesting. I imagine it wouldn't have been too hard for the creators of this graphic to include that, but for some reason they left it out (hmm!). Good example of how data visualization can be misleading.
melling 15y ago
Can you provide a link that shows the actual numbers? This link says the war is $1.3 trillion. The national debt is $14 trillion. http://costofwar.com/en/ http://costofwar.com/en/
potatolicious 15y ago
I'm against the wars - but IMO there's a good reason the US has a presence around the world in places like Japan. The entire point of being a superpower is being able to project this power in any corner of the globe. China is investing heavily in its navy right now since it distinctly feels the lack of ability to do the same. When Chinese shipments came under pirate attack off the coast of Somalia, it took forever and a day for any forces to be dispatched, compared to the US whose naval and air presence is available within hours around the world by virtue of having bases in foreign countries.
sigil 15y ago
"Most of the debt is from war" is not true. This site has some good information: http://usgovernmentspending.com/ http://usgovernmentspending.com/