The British Empire(s) lasted 400 in total as well, so... Yep, plenty of mileage.JW Frogen wrote:Well the Roman "imperial overreach" lasted for 400 years.
In the Eastern empire for a thousand years.
I guess that gives the US a lot of milage.
USA, USA, USA, USA!
And if you study what immediately followed the fall of Rome, you would be chanting USA, USA, USA too!
What do you think is the annual cost of running 737 military bases worldwide (not including military bases within the US and secret bases)?freediver wrote:You can hardly call the current campaigns of the US a 'stretch' on their economy. Most real wars necessitate a switch to a wartime economy. This one just needs some funds allocated from tax revenue.
It is a big figure but it is pretty well impossible for ordinary citizens to know the exact amount or what the money is spent on for a number of reasons... Apparently about 35% of the Department of Defense budget is so-called "black" meaning the expenditure is on highly classified projects. Also the defense budget is spread over more than one department. Atomic weapons are managed by the Department of Energy, the defense of the country is now managed by the Department of Homeland Security, the cost of medical care and rehabilitation of returned servicemen is controlled by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The total figure for defense is estimated to be around 2 trillion dollars which accounts for about 40% of the US tax dollar.freediver wrote:I'm sure it's a big number with lots of zeros, but America is a big country. You need to keep this in perspective.
It indicates that the US is still mobilised for war and has been for 60 years and as a consequence, the US economy relies heavily on the defense industry to grow.freediver wrote: Real wars, like WWI and WWII, require the complete transformation of the entire economy. The whole country was mobilised into supporting the war effort. The fact that so much is spent without requiring significant changes reflects how easily the US can absorb the cost of the current wars.
Discretionary funding for 2007 for the Department of Defense was 16% of the total 2007 budget outlay. Funding for the war on terror was 6.2% of total outlay. Homeland Security was 2%. The Departments of Energy – nuclear weapons maintenance, Veterans Affairs, Treasury - Military retirement fund, State – foreign military assistance, Justice – FBI paramilitary activities collectively totalled 6.7%. The interest for past debt-financed defense outlays, (so-called) Department of Defense allowances and DoD extra recruitment initiatives is estimated to be at 7.5%.JW Frogen wrote:US defense spending is less than 5% GDP.
Sorry doom and gloom crowd but this empire an’t going anywhere for a while.
Then party on. Double the defense spending next year.JW Frogen wrote:You are talking government spending, not GDP.
Like most on the left you do not believe the economy is the economy, only government spending matters.
10% of GDP, not a bad idea given the nature of the world.helian wrote:Then party on. Double the defense spending next year.JW Frogen wrote:You are talking government spending, not GDP.
Like most on the left you do not believe the economy is the economy, only government spending matters.
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