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Historically defense spending has been decreasing as a % of GDP. It's as low as ~3.5% now, near the lowest it has ever been.

IncRnd 5y ago
That's a percentage of GDP, but the actual military budget per year hasn't been decreasing like that. It's increased every year since 2003. See this table: Military Spending History [1] [1] https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-military-budget-components-challenges-growth-3306320 https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-military-budget-components-ch...
- nightski 5y ago
  I mean that chart shows it basically increasing on par with inflation, especially in the 2011-2021 decade. Why would you expect it to stay the same or decrease as our economic value grows?
  - IncRnd 5y ago
    That is not what it shows. The overall cumulative price change from 2003 to 2021 is just shy of 50%, yet the Military Spending went from $437B to $934B. Taking a smaller portion to support a desired statitical result is not scientific.
    - nightski 5y ago
      It's about 4.5% annualized increase over the 20 years (being almost flat in the second half). Yes, slightly higher than inflation (around 2.5% or so annualized), but I mean come on, it's not that large. As I pointed out, it's been decreasing as a % of GDP which is a more relevant metric.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> Historically defense spending has been decreasing as a % of GDP. It's as low as ~3.5% now, near the lowest it has ever been. The lowest peak year of total defense (not just war) spending during a war appears to be 1.5% of GDP in 1899 during the Spanish-American War [0]. 3.5% of GDP is nowhere near the lowest total defense spending has ever been. [0] https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/afp/warcosts.htm https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/afp/warcosts.htm
- deleted 5y ago
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VictorPath 5y ago
First, you're calling the invasion of Iraq, the bombing of Iran, and all the other things the US has been doing around the world since as far as can be remembered "defense". Murdering villagers in remote Vietnamese villages etc. Secondly, military spending is more than 3.5% GDP. It is only 3.5% if you exclude pension and health benefits due to retired military, interest on past military spending (past as in, last year's) and so on. The real military budget is always underreported to a large extent.
- deleted 5y ago
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IncRnd 5y ago

That's a percentage of GDP, but the actual military budget per year hasn't been decreasing like that. It's increased every year since 2003. See this table: Military Spending History [1] [1] https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-military-budget-components-challenges-growth-3306320 https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-military-budget-components-ch...

nightski 5y ago
I mean that chart shows it basically increasing on par with inflation, especially in the 2011-2021 decade. Why would you expect it to stay the same or decrease as our economic value grows?
- IncRnd 5y ago
  That is not what it shows. The overall cumulative price change from 2003 to 2021 is just shy of 50%, yet the Military Spending went from $437B to $934B. Taking a smaller portion to support a desired statitical result is not scientific.
  - nightski 5y ago
    It's about 4.5% annualized increase over the 20 years (being almost flat in the second half). Yes, slightly higher than inflation (around 2.5% or so annualized), but I mean come on, it's not that large. As I pointed out, it's been decreasing as a % of GDP which is a more relevant metric.

dragonwriter 5y ago

> Historically defense spending has been decreasing as a % of GDP. It's as low as ~3.5% now, near the lowest it has ever been. The lowest peak year of total defense (not just war) spending during a war appears to be 1.5% of GDP in 1899 during the Spanish-American War [0]. 3.5% of GDP is nowhere near the lowest total defense spending has ever been. [0] https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/afp/warcosts.htm https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/afp/warcosts.htm

deleted 5y ago
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VictorPath 5y ago

First, you're calling the invasion of Iraq, the bombing of Iran, and all the other things the US has been doing around the world since as far as can be remembered "defense". Murdering villagers in remote Vietnamese villages etc. Secondly, military spending is more than 3.5% GDP. It is only 3.5% if you exclude pension and health benefits due to retired military, interest on past military spending (past as in, last year's) and so on. The real military budget is always underreported to a large extent.

deleted 5y ago
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