2010-11-12T15:45:00Z
Share
Facebook
Email
X
LinkedIn
Copy link
lighning bolt icon
An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt.
Impact Link
Save
Saved
Read in app
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider
subscribers. Become an Insider
and start reading now.
Have an account? Log in .
BAE
As the economy has tanked, the banks have been bailed out, and America lost its jobs, the defense budget continues to grow.
For the past 13 years the U.S. military buget has increased 114 percent, eight percent higher than at the height of Reagn's term and the Cold War.
The money is used to buying sophisticated weapons that often don't make it into production, and when the do they're expensive to maintain.
The US. must spend a full 1 percent of its GDP just to maintain its arsenal.
America spends more on its military than THE NEXT 15 COUNTRIES COMBINED
The U.S. Army via Flickr
By 2033 the U.S. will be paying $59 billion a year to its veterans injured in the wars
wikipedia
In 2007, the amount of money labeled 'wasted' or 'lost' in Iraq -- $11 billion -- could pay 220,000 teachers salaries
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katesheets/2517692919/
America's defense spending doubled in the same period that its economy shrunk from 32 to 23 percent of global output*
why pamper life's complexity via Flickr
*This fact originally said defense spending had doubled since 2008.
Source: National Defense Magazine
The yearly cost of stationing one soldier in Iraq could feed 60 American families.
Chrysaora via Flickr
Defense spending is higher today than at any time since the height of World War II
wikimedia
The total known land area occupied by U.S. bases and facilities is 15,654 square miles -- bigger than D.C., Massachusetts, and New Jersey combined.
wikipedia commons
Each day in Afghanistan costs the government more than it did to build the entire Pentagon
robsv via Flickr
In 2008, the Pentagon spent more money every five seconds in Iraq than the average American earned in a year
The pentagon budget consumes 80% of individual income tax revenue
alancleaver_2000 via Flickr
Two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Defense Department still has more than 40 generals, admirals or civilian equivalents based in Europe
DTP999 via Flickr
The amount the government has spent compensating radiation victims of nuclear testing ($1.5 billion) could fully educate 13,000 American kids
Mad House Photography via Flickr
The Pentagon spends more on war than all 50 states combined spend on health, education, welfare, and safety
Howard Davies-Carr
The U.S. has 5% of the world's population -- but almost 50% of the world's total military expenditure
MShades via Flickr
So where do they get all that money?
flickr
