255 comments on Monetary Policy and Weaseling Out of Debt
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U.S. military spending is 3.7% of its GDP. In WWII, U.S. military spending peaked at 37.8% of GDP:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States
Nasguy,
Back in those days the US had a lock on manufacturing, now it has a lock on debt. That 3.7% GDP as well has greater leverage when the US is fighting a dirty war rather than one considered by the populous as morally right and noble.
Really how does the GDP then compare to the GDP now? Hurricane Katrina and putting the obese on life support is considered plus in the ledger book of GDP.
As well, I can't even begin to imagine what life would be like in the US if that 3.7% rose to 37.8 % ... maybe pretty good, with full employment and personal savings rising until the oil ran out and the world left a smoking ruin.
Remember, the liars are keeping the "war on terrorism" off-budget. The official budget is $500 billion, the war budget is over $100 billion, and parts of military obligations are hidden in the Department of Energy and the Department of Veterans Affairs - both of which will explode.
Finally, there's the vast amount of extra deficit spending over the decades from the military, which have been turned into permanent interest-bearing debt. And interest rates are heading up again. Figure it'll soon be $300 billion a year in added interest payments?
So this puts us at the levels of the Cold War, against an opponent so puny that it would be invisible against the mighty Soviet war machine that also turned out to be largely a fraud.
Unless what we're really paying for is the empire of bases in 130 countries that mostly pre-dated 9/11. Why didn't we close those down to concentrate on what "really" matters?