1. United States (FY08 budget), $623 billion
2. China (2004), $65 billion
3. Russia, $50 billion
4. France (2005), $45 billion
5. United Kingdom, $42.8 billion
6. Japan (2007), $41.75 billion
7. Germany (2003), $35.1 billion
8. Italy (2003), $28.2 billion
9. South Korea (2003), $21.1 billion
10. India (2005 est.), $19 billion
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Data source: TomDispatch.com
Put another way:
U.S. – $623 billion
The next nine – $348 billion
this is simple… there is only 1 rational explanation as to why america spends more money then any other country.. why? you may ask well the answer is this america is a country full of stupid ignorant inbreads and that includes george bush….. simple…..
i’d love to know the lowest spenders, in case i ever want to move to some place with better priorities.
Andrew: Yeah, Bush is so stupid, he illegally invaded Iraq and is getting away with it. How stupid of him.
Have you considered the fact that the Yuan is overly uderevaluated ? If it was rightly valued china’s budget might be quite different.
We are also the freest nation. Liberal dumbasses can leave.
Haha, like really, we DONT want any of you here.
You can’t compare spending of the countries from different years. The comparison should be from the same year across the board not 2008, 2005, 2003, 2007, etc…
I’m sorry to disagree with Jack, but anyone who considers the US the “freest” nation clearly has no international perspective. Tell people in Canada, England, Australia, etc. that they’re not as free and they’ll either laugh, think you’re ignorant, or point out phone taps, etc.
Stop talking out of your asses, ALL OF YOU!
This is ridiculous, America spends the most because we wish to continue to be a hegemon. We have military bases all over the world, that cost a lot in upkeep and only perpetuate the idea of an American Empire. The Only solution VOTE PAUL or OBAMA
when it gets down the to nitty gritty… I think U.S. is laying a secure foundation in power. Other countries might have the resources and the money, but they don’t have the raw, brute force that we can unleash in a fraction of the effort.
It is a matter of priority, if China stops selling us products or the middle east doesn’t sell us oil (much so like Iraq), in a short amount of time we’ll be in there and disturb everything.
So, it is security, and an odd form of business racketeering. It’s either that or give up all of your luxuries, which none of us are too keen on doing
uh, funny how Canada is just as free as the US, and isn’t on that list.. eh? conservative idiots can stop pretending they know best.
Kevin, Canada doesn’t have a strong military because they don’t need one with the US to the south.
Dylan, I’m Canadian. Canada doesn’t have a “large” military because we only have 65 million citizens despite our large size. Compared to your 360 million… As to our military not being “strong” I might point out we’re as actively engaged on the ground in Afghanistan as you are in Iraq. Only difference is the UN and international community supports us there whereas the Iraq occupation is illegal.
And yes, calling us less free than you makes us laugh. Laugh hard.
Did you know:
That America spends over $5.6 billion dollars a month in Iraq, which is more Federal aid than any current state is receiving. At $5.6 billion dollars, we could pay every Iraqi $215 a month,which is ten times their current average income.
Jack that is hilarious! In just two statements you completely contradicted yourself. We are the freest nation. Liberal (People who fight for civil liberties) can leave. It’s people like you that assure that your country becomes one of the most suppressed nation in the world!
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism”
Thomas Jefferson
Jack. While I can appreciate that you clearly feel a sense of obligation to prove the perception of the rest of the world that Americans are ignorant savages, you DON’T (notice that “don’t” contains an apostrophe) speak for all of us. Approximately half of the country IS liberal, and quite frankly we’d prefer that there were fewer ignorant conservatives voting our freedoms away. Unfortunately, there aren’t so we are stuck trying to find solutions to the problems you create. Honestly, I don’t want you or your ignorant brethren to leave, I want you to educate yourselves. Please. The U.S.A. spends more on its military than any other country on the planet because our economy is based on military spending to a large degree (thanks to gems like Reagan and both Bushes). President Eisenhower once said “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” Guess what? That rise of misplaced power is happening right before your eyes. What are you doing about it?
Jack, you intolerable fool, on what planet do you think America is the freest nation?
Here in Canada I have all the same rights and freedoms as you do, plus a few extra.
Gavin Hudson pointed out the fact of phone taps and he’s right.
Free? HA!
As for your comment about liberal “dumbasses” I encourage you to back up your statement by explaining what part of wanting the same rights for everyone and fighting for that right makes one a “dumbass”.
Jack, do you seriously have any idea what you are saying? The USA is not the freest nation in the world no matter what any drone pseudo-reporter at FOX will try to tell you. It’s like Gavin Hudson said, that’s why so many other countries think we are ignorant: because we go around saying we are the best damn nation ever when in reality if you look at the facts modern day America is terrible compared to other countries.
Have you ever heard of the Military Commissions Act of 2006? Read it. It allows the government to arbitrarily name anyone an “enemy combatant” and removes Habeas Corpus rights from said person. What ever happened to the fifth, sixth, and ninth amendments? With this law in place, the government can legally take any person, American or not, take them to an undisclosed location and hold them there for as long as they want without telling anyone else that the said person is with them. I won’t speculate too much as I am trying to remain firmly grounded in fact, but if nobody knows where you are, and nobody knows who has you, what is to stop torture or even murder from occurring?
Torture has already been carried out by the “greatest democracy in the world”. Here is the report by Amnesty International. There goes amendment eight. I should not have to elaborate on this one, it is despicable no matter the situation.
Surveillance is another crime against the people that is being carried out every day through the Patriot Act. With this bill the government can monitor what you take out of the library, what websites you visit, your phone calls, etc. There goes amendment four.
As for the amendments that have not been obliterated, one, two, three, and ten, the only ones which have not been attacked are three and ten. One has not been attacked because it does not need to be. Those few enlightened people who have read Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman will know what I am talking about. If you have not read that book then perhaps you at least watched the presidential debates recently. If you listened carefully you realized the top candidates are saying absolutely nothing. It’s comical. When the audience stands up and claps I want to scream at my TV, “What are you clapping for? All he just said was that he thinks America should change! For all you know he could mean that we should change our colors from red, white and blue to green and purple!” Voters don’t consider real facts anymore, reporters don’t ask real questions. Once you have seen something like this happen from an enlightened perspective it is incredibly distressing and funny at the same time. It’s like watching a gorilla try to pick up a tiny marble, but it can’t because it’s fingers are too big. Americans, Republicans and Democrats, really don’t grasp many of the issues as a whole, and that is why Bush was elected to a second term. The President’s intelligence reflects the people’s intelligence.
Republicans and Democrats are equally ignorant and at fault in this area. One must admit that this is the only thing the two parties have in common seeing as Democrats at least have half a brain and are trying to pick up that metaphorical marble while the Republicans are just standing there with their heads in the sand, or someplace else…
So to all the people like jack, I assure you that you are 100% wrong and need to have a serious reality check. Everyone else needs one too judging by our decision in the last presidential election, or I might be moving to Europe to get away from all the stupid pills everyone seems to be taking these days.
Something I forgot to include in my previous comment was that not only do Americans not get politics, but life in general. Have you ever see the stereotypical suburban mom who wolfs down bag after bag of fat free chips, or the guy who drives a hybrid SUV? It makes anyone with any sense at all want to scream, “You are missing the whole point!” I mean, really, I’m stunned. This is the core problem of America and I haven’t the slightest clue how it should be fixed. How do you force someone not to be and idiot?
In response to those who say Canada, England and Australia are just as free as us Americans……
An armed man is a Citizen. An unarmed man is a Subject.
Which one are you?
I love how ‘liberals’ have always been invited to leave when criticizing failures of any given administration to live up to our Constitution. From what I’ve seen during the primaries and today’s caucus in Washington, John Q American Public is sick and tired of the war criminals who are currently running (and ruining) the White House.
Dwight Eisenhower warned against the ‘Industrial Military Complex.’ We have given our lives and souls over to supporting this monster. I highly recommend everyone reading this post rent and watch ‘Why We Fight.’
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0436971/
Those who think we are the freest nation are idiots. There are countries that are equally or more free than us. You are just spoon fed bull shit like that from our government and you believe it. Liberties are going away, and fascism has come dressed in an American flag and carrying a cross.
Is anyone going to back up anything they’re saying with facts, rather than just throwing out petty insults? Never mind the fact that we hardly ever have to worry about being invaded. We’re the richest country in the world, with the most opportunity…if people would only put the effort in. We may not have the strongest leaders at times, but we always need and should support our military efforts. Compared to those other countries with low budgets for military, who have to worry about attacks, poor health care systems, etc. I’m glad that we have the military that we do. We DO have a lot of freedoms here. I love it when people get on their soapbox and bitch about the government, and how George Bush is an idiot, etc. I’m not saying I’m a fan either, but realize you’re fortunate you can even make those statements…..
to think what we could of put that money to
is a very depressing prospect when we see the state our great nation is in right now. I like to think that it will change but it has been like this for a disturbingly long time, and to mention it on a campaign trail would bring certain death by the media (Fox’nRush).
Also (unrelated) why is impeaching so god damn difficult that it is universally accepted that if you have a president, we our stuck with him(her maybe) for four years. (of course i would wait to impeach Bush as well. Cheney for president? Rather receive electro-testicle torture.
Relative expenditures as % of GDP. ( gross domestic product )
People’s Republic of China 4.2%
United States 3.7%
United Kingdom 2.7%
Japan 1.0%
Russia 12%
@Jack
Your President has implemented far more draconian laws recently than any other nation. Every move you make and every breath you take is monitored. Habeas Corpus is no more the Patriot Act dismantled the constitution.
Freedom is being eroded in the US. You’re closer to being a fascist regime than ever before. And you’re just sitting there because it came draped in Stars and Stripes!
@Dave
Tell that to students at Columbine and Virginia Tech. An armed man is a danger to the community. Canada has just as many guns as the US except they handle them like adults!
Dave:
Perhapse you should reinterpret your own sentance here? Unarmed? A startling amount of US “citizens” have disarmed themselves mentally. When you unknowingly give away your civil liberities, and blindly follow a government with an agenda in favor of personal monetary gain, you become more a subject than a man without a fucking gun.
And, free to do what? Go to work? Buy gas and eat fast food??
Were free to be chained to student loan or credit card debt?
Then yes, America is truly the land of the free!
Actually, Canada and England have many more restrictions on their freedom than we here in America do. Higher taxes are the most notable, and England is currently installing cameras everywhere there is an outlet. Can’t say much about Australia, but I doubt they have “more freedom” than we do. That said, America still sucks. This war is still totally out of control, and isn’t about freedom in the least.
It doesn’t matter if we are liberal or conservative, republican or democrat….what matters is that we are the most powerful nation on earth, though the budget may be steep, every other country on the planet hates us. It should be expected to have the largest military budget if you are the biggest target.
jack – the rest of the world is laughing at us. Oh yeah, we’re so ‘free’ – tell that to the guys locked up in prison who’ve been there (being tortured) for years waiting to be charged with a crime. Ever heard of habeas corpus? And, I’d be pretty careful what you write, say, or email. Cause, you may end up considered an enemy of the state (–1984, hello)
You know why america spends so much? just as in the cold war, we need to be the police. you have the two most devistating superpowers of russia and china kept in check by who? the french? the english?
We need everyone in this country, we need healthy debate though, not telling those who disagree to leave.
Uhhhh, Shawn. The essence of what you say is true, but being a Canadian myself, I am quite surprised that you somehow doubled the population base of our country.
Try 35 million.
Kevin: Higher taxes = less freedom? Last I checked we voted governments in and agreed to those taxes.
Why would we do something stupid like that? Well, for starters, when I am suffering from an extreme medical emergency the doctors see me and dont even bother asking if I have insurance. Everyone does. We also don’t have people who are left in the throws of death, vomiting on the floor of a hospital, being patently ignored.
Funnily enough, our debt is miniscule compared to yours (even as a % of our GDP) why? Because we don;t mind paying our fair share so have-nots are not relegated to being kicked out on the streets. Not saying we don;t have a homeless problem, but it is laughable when compared to that of the USA. Our income gap is also much smaller than yours.
Our economy is running circles around yours at the moment…but hey, I guess because you shut your eyes and pretend your debt isn’t astronomical and that your economy isn’t collapsing….makes you more free.
We pay taxes to avoid a crisis situation like your country is facing now. Personally, I would rather pay a few more dollars every year in taxes and be assured that I will be taken care of when ill, and that my economy won’t collapse around my feet because of an out of control debt that is out sourced to foreign countries that have openly hostile intentions.
Not to mention we actually have Habeas Corpus in this country, something you and your “freedom” have seemed to deem unnecessary. Also, our tax rate is high….for the rich. Which is just how it should be.
We have to take in consideration that the amount we spend also includes some high level technology. Many of our advances in medical, science, engineering, nano technology and equipment have had great spin offs in the private sector. The advances in aircraft systems alone have and will make great contributions to all societies. And some of the advances in plasma physics will revolutionize the way you live in the future. Anti gravity is no longer a Star Trek thing. Your computer, the internet (sorry Gore) is all directed through advances from the military. I think the 500B we’re spending on welfare is a bigger waste of funds. There’s no payback to society.
america is definitely not the “freest” country…greece is. definitely.
these numbers are totally wrong. ah china’s military expenditure was wayyyy less than $65 billion in 2004. the expenditure for 2007? $45 billion. suck it ecoscraps
jack: Republicans want to give away civil rights and freedom for security.. Liberals want full freedom. Stop being ignorant.
Anyone do this as a percentage of GDP? Stats like this with no equalizer are such bullshit like this
To someone outside it seems that the reason so much state money is spent on arms by the USA is that Bush and his family are shareholders in some of the biggest arms companies. He’s just using his power to increase his own personal wealth and the wealth of his friends. Bush isn’t stupid, but he is a selfish asshole.
I don’t believe that Israel spends less than India’s $19 Billion, but maybe we aren’t allowed to mention that.
Whats up with all this anit-america crap. What do you people really want in life. It appears to me you must be jelous of America beeing big and powerful. Do you want America to fall and China to take Americas place. This will not happen, America will not allow this to happen. Be carefull what you wish for. Do you Know what goes on in China….No you dont. It’s a one party state wuth a shocking human rights record. I’ve been there and it’s a over populated over poulleted dump of a country. At least the US has a free media.
the UK spends about £33 billion on its army which is about $66 billion
Freest what a bunch of american bullshit
free from what universal medicare so ppor kids dont have to die so General Dynamics share holders can get richer
What an a**hole eh!
You forgot to mention that the US have the likes of Haliburton and KBR to help them spend the money.
Nobody can compete with those guys in billing.
BTW Gavin, go easy on Jack, he has probably never heard of Canada, England or Australia. He only knows about the EVIL countries
cameron : this has to be the most infuriating comment that I have read on here yet!! to think that the U.S is capable of ‘policing’ the world is laughable. They are neither able or capable of doing so! I see America as been the single greatest danger to the stability of world peace. for the simple reason they have the military capability of impacting on a world stage and a war monger president! Of all the countries who have nuclear weapons who is the only country stupid enough to use them against another? That’s right the good old U.S.A!! it will never cease to amaze me how an imbecile could be put in charge of a supper power like the U.S.
From the outsider looking in, America was once this place of great opportunity, where people were treated as equals, where human rights would be protected at all costs, but this is now a distant memory in my head, America are considered bullies by the vast majority of the world, and for this reason they are the most hated country on the planet!!
as for the other imbecile who claims that America is the freest country in the world, tell that to the 37 million “American” who live below the federal poverty limit, i.e. “live in poverty” and while your at it maybe you should thank them for “paying” for your freedoms (or what’s left of them any ways)
China really hides their military spending in other budgets and under reports them. The US is accurate because to say the least it all has to be public information. When you like in China, the modern police state that kind of information is what they want you to know.
China is really estimated to be over $120 Billion to $200 billion.
China has said that they are going to build a deep sea navy, go to the moon, and own us all. They have said economic conquest is the ultimate way to go. We will eventually be fighting over resources in every corner of the globe in a 100 years with them. EU is just going to be happen we can afford great weapons. The EU is still exposed to the middle east and the hordes from Turkey invading Europe. Those Muslims are set to establish a caliphate over Europe.
China’s military power is still far away from others. but i hope there is a great catching up for another decade. in that time, US might finished with Iran, Korea and even Russia and China will be rasing up as last equal power against US. Freedom? Democrast? it only can be established based on a country’s military and economics in 21 century. for 22 century? who knows, it may be only a united global country exist and people in that time might think what we discuss right now is wasting time