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Were does the US military budget money get spent? A small portion goes on wages, but every soldier needs equipment, food, and requires infrastructure. This is m

Were does the US military budget money get spent? A small portion goes on wages, but every soldier needs equipment, food, and requires infrastructure. This is mostly provided by private companies. "Defence" companies are in the top lobbyists by expenditure, at about $200M each per year. They lobby hard to get the lucrative contracts to provide all the above and more (e.g. the F-35 program). Who pays for all this? The government of course. And where does the government get its money? The tax payers. I.e. the public. So the reasoning goes that the industrial military complex exists to transfer money from the public, via the government, to private companies.

bduerst 12y ago
So basically rent-seeking by the defense industry?
cgearhart 12y ago
See the table on page one of chapter 5 (page 51 in the pdf) of http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2015/fy2015_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudge... Actual expenses in 2012 show that military pay and benefits accounts for 34.6% of the DoD budget, with total pay and benefits (including civilian) accounting for 47.8%. According to a CBO report I read in 2010, the growth in personnel costs for the military was one of the biggest concerns for long term budget planning. The vast majority of the military servicemen costs are due to the cost of providing healthcare, because the military isn't exempt or immune to the cost growth experienced in that sector. As an additional aside, expected outlays for the post-9/11 GI bill are much higher than initial estimates because the cost of college has grown so much and the benefits are transferrable.
- noelwelsh 12y ago
  Thanks for linking to that. I tried searching for an exact figure and couldn't find one.
linuxlizard 12y ago
> And where does the government get its money? These days? The Chinese I suppose.

bduerst 12y ago

So basically rent-seeking by the defense industry?

cgearhart 12y ago

See the table on page one of chapter 5 (page 51 in the pdf) of http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2015/fy2015_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudge... Actual expenses in 2012 show that military pay and benefits accounts for 34.6% of the DoD budget, with total pay and benefits (including civilian) accounting for 47.8%. According to a CBO report I read in 2010, the growth in personnel costs for the military was one of the biggest concerns for long term budget planning. The vast majority of the military servicemen costs are due to the cost of providing healthcare, because the military isn't exempt or immune to the cost growth experienced in that sector. As an additional aside, expected outlays for the post-9/11 GI bill are much higher than initial estimates because the cost of college has grown so much and the benefits are transferrable.

noelwelsh 12y ago
Thanks for linking to that. I tried searching for an exact figure and couldn't find one.

linuxlizard 12y ago

> And where does the government get its money? These days? The Chinese I suppose.