America has good economic indicators but is relatively weak socially. Elevated military expenditures are a key reason for this. The US military budget is so large because of the need to pick up the slack for other NATO nations. This astronomical spending is one of the reasons why the US spends less on public education and health than most other countries. Consequently, the cost of higher education in the US is much more expensive than in other developed nations.
Military expenditures exert pressure on the economy
One of the reasons that the Soviet Union collapsed was its huge military budget, Moscow competed with Washington in the arms race.
The Soviet economy was smaller than the American one, and the Kremlin had to assign a bigger percentage of its economy to the military to compete with the United States. Something similar is happening with the US today, especially with its behemoth military budget. According to a report by Fair, America spent $611 billion on the military in 2016 --- almost three times more than China, about nine times more than Russia, 11 times more than France, and about 15 times more than Germany
A growing military budget and its impact
There is a bill that soon will become law, so, the US new military budget will be $700 billion according to a report by The Independent. The increase in the military expenditures in itself is bigger than the whole military budget of a nation like the United Kingdom or Japan.
Have you asked yourself why higher education in America is so expensive? Or why doesn't the US invest more in public health? The military expenditures absorb huge amounts of money that could be invested in the social development of the United States.
How much could the US save?
According to a report by Yahoo News, just five NATO members meet the target of spending 2% of their economies in the military, so, most countries violate this target.
Who pays for the difference? The United States. According to a report by Bullion Vault, the size of the American economy is $19 trillion. If the US spent just 2% of its economy in the military, it would assign the Pentagon just $380 billion instead of the proposed $700 billion for the coming fiscal year. The United States would be able to save $320 billion. The oversized military expenditures destroyed the Soviet economy, and the same could happen to America. NATO nations must accept their responsibilities and stop predating the US budget.
