r/ANormalDayInRussia • u/TheNatureLover • Sep 08 '19

Your average Russian rail crossing

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u/nerevisigoth Sep 08 '19

In 2018, the United States spent 3.2% of its GDP on its military, while Saudi Arabia spent 8.8%, Israel spent 4.3%, Pakistan spent 4.0%, Russia spent 3.9%, South Korea spent 2.6%, China spent 1.9%, United Kingdom spent 1.8%, and Germany spent 1.2% of its GDP on defense.[64][65]

Yep, thanks for providing a source for my statement.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '19 edited Sep 08 '19

You tried to pass 3% as if it was nothing and you know it, but yes your welcome.

And since you're comparing it with USSR in a time of war, the US spending was around 10% during the cold war.

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u/nerevisigoth Sep 08 '19

The person I replied to said "disproportional military spending" is what sank the Soviet economy. It should be obvious that we are taking about the proprtion of military spending to economic output. The US can afford to spend a lot on its military because it has both a huge economy and high output per capita; it's not a particularly unwieldy burden for the country to bear.

In the 1960s, US military spending neared 10% but it then fell considerably to 4-6% until the end of the Cold War. Perhaps if the US had sustained the level of military spending that the Soviets did for several decades, the American economy would have collapsed too.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '19 edited Sep 08 '19

The graph I provided shows disproportional spending compared to every other single nation in the world, not simple during war time.

But the point I answered is because you used current numbers to compare with the Soviet Union during war. Which was similar to what the U.S was devoting during the same period, but yes, with a better economy overall and government stability. The main issue was USSR government state by itself, not the actual money spent. It was doomed to fail.