Military spending Defence costs

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/06/military-spending



The biggest military spenders

ON JUNE 8th China's top military brass confirmed that the country's first aircraft carrier, a refurbishment of an old Russian carrier, will be ready shortly. Only a handful of nations operate carriers, which are costly to build and maintain. Indeed, Britain has recently decommissioned its sole carrier because of budget pressures. China's defence spending has risen by nearly 200% since 2001 to reach an estimated $119 billion in 2010—though it has remained fairly constant in terms of its share of GDP. America's own budget crisis is prompting tough discussions about its defence spending, which, at nearly $700 billion, is bigger than that of the next 17 countries combined.

They spend as much as 1/4 of GDP on defense, at least according to the state department. They have one of the largest standing armies in the world and given their shitty economy, you know the percentage has got to be really high.

We're in the twilight of this here, I think. As fiscal pressures increase, military spending will eventually come down.

Thanks for posting.

It was not tweeted, but it's pure evil just the same. :nuke: