‘Defense’?

Not long into Trump’s presidency, he announced his plans to increase the country’s defense budget in 2018 by 54 billion dollars. The extra money is seen as necessary in order to “rebuild the depleted military of the United States of America at a time we most need it”. Whether justified or not, this extra outlay will take the U.S. even further ahead of the rest of the world in terms of outright military spending.

The infographic below shows how the current budget compares to the world’s other top spenders.

Time to buy old US gold coins

You will find more statistics at Statista

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2016 U.S. defense spending outstripped that of China, Russia, UK, France, Japan, Saudi Arabia and India combined. When it comes to spending as a share of own GDP, the United States’ huge output naturally brings them down the rankings somewhat. Of the top outright spenders, Saudi Arabia is way ahead, with an estimated 10 percent.

Reprinted with permission from Zero Hedge.

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