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The Economist: The World's Biggest Military Spenders by Population

economist.com

11–20 of 36 posts

Re: The Economist: The World's Biggest Military Spenders by Population

#11
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/... Googled military spending by GDP

China spends more per dollar of GDP on the military - very interesting.

China'a GDP is a bit of an estimate. For any country with a large internal market and a central government the GDP figure isn't very useful.

Re: The Economist: The World's Biggest Military Spenders by Population

#12

The US's dominant roll in NATO makes this graph misleading. For decades, Europe has essentially had a subsidized military through alliance with the US. They complain about increased US influence, but it's actually directly caused by who is defending whom.

It is more complicated than that. For example: bombings in Madrids. Would the Arab savages have targeted Spain if it wouldn't have been allied with the US? And what about stupid American ideas like the wars in Iraq and Afganistan? This is all included in beeing "defended". That beeing said, I aknowledge the gist of your argument: Europeans have choosen to be "defended" by the US so they shouldn't complain about the bill.

Re: The Economist: The World's Biggest Military Spenders by Population

#14
This whole daily chart section of the economist is quite interesting, they've got 500 other charts like that one in there: http://www.economist.com/daily/chartgallery/

Like these interesting/surprising examples:

Countries with the most windpower generation in GWs:http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displays...

Public acceptance of evolution: http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displays...

Re: The Economist: The World's Biggest Military Spenders by Population

#15

The US's dominant roll in NATO makes this graph misleading. For decades, Europe has essentially had a subsidized military through alliance with the US. They complain about increased US influence, but it's actually directly caused by who is defending whom.

Isn't Europe helping out the US in Afghanistan ? Can you cite a source stating that US is defending Europe ?

Re: The Economist: The World's Biggest Military Spenders by Population

#16
post #15

The US's dominant roll in NATO makes this graph misleading. For decades, Europe has essentially had a subsidized military through alliance with the US. They complain about increased US influence, but it's actually directly caused by who is defending whom.

Isn't Europe helping out the US in Afghanistan ? Can you cite a source stating that US is defending Europe ?

> Isn't Europe helping out the US in Afghanistan?

Yes, but that doesn't tell us which way the net benefits are going, it just says that Europe isn't completely dead-weight.

> Can you cite a source stating that US is defending Europe ?

Defending Europe is NATO's reason for existence.

Re: The Economist: The World's Biggest Military Spenders by Population

#17

The US's dominant roll in NATO makes this graph misleading. For decades, Europe has essentially had a subsidized military through alliance with the US. They complain about increased US influence, but it's actually directly caused by who is defending whom.

It is more complicated than that. For example: bombings in Madrids. Would the Arab savages have targeted Spain if it wouldn't have been allied with the US? And what about stupid American ideas like the wars in Iraq and Afganistan? This is all included in beeing "defended". That beeing said, I aknowledge the gist of your argument: Europeans have choosen to be "defended" by the US so they shouldn't complain about the b…

You may want to peruse your comment for spelling errors. I count six.

Re: The Economist: The World's Biggest Military Spenders by Population

#18
post #15

The US's dominant roll in NATO makes this graph misleading. For decades, Europe has essentially had a subsidized military through alliance with the US. They complain about increased US influence, but it's actually directly caused by who is defending whom.

Isn't Europe helping out the US in Afghanistan ? Can you cite a source stating that US is defending Europe ?

I'm told coordination efforts with, for example, inferior air forces, are often more costly than doing it alone. Compare it to coordination efforts between, say, Microsoft's marketting department and a local food blogger. They don't operate using the same methods.

Ohh, and US defending Europe, the best example: the cold war. It was decades of US military buildup largely to ensure they could invade or nuke eastern Europe if they invaded first. South Korea is another example of a military that is smaller because we keep a potential invader away.

Re: The Economist: The World's Biggest Military Spenders by Population

#19

The US's dominant roll in NATO makes this graph misleading. For decades, Europe has essentially had a subsidized military through alliance with the US. They complain about increased US influence, but it's actually directly caused by who is defending whom.

It is more complicated than that. For example: bombings in Madrids. Would the Arab savages have targeted Spain if it wouldn't have been allied with the US? And what about stupid American ideas like the wars in Iraq and Afganistan? This is all included in beeing "defended". That beeing said, I aknowledge the gist of your argument: Europeans have choosen to be "defended" by the US so they shouldn't complain about the b…

I'm fine with complaining about the bill. I think military spending is ridiculously high in the US, even accounting for the benefits of helping others.

It's just that you can't look at spending and get a good picture of the militarization of the culture. That counts doubly true for smaller arms. The cost of a carrier group is roughly equal to giving every citizen a gun.

Re: The Economist: The World's Biggest Military Spenders by Population

#20
post #4

I see these all the time, but never a single "spenders by GDP" chart. What gives? Seems like that info's more relevant anyways - how would they spend money they don't have?

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/... Googled military spending by GDP

I feel dumb for not doing that. But it's as I thought - we're nowhere near the top if you look at it this way. I bet a lot of the money we spend military is 'wasted' due to the high cost of things around here, anyways.
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