Hi guys,
I really love this page: http://www.nationmaster.com
Cool stats. Stats are fun. Especially to stirr off-topic discussions :-)
* The US spends as much on the military as the next 9 countries put together.
* However, if you measure it as expenditure as a percent or GDP (prob a more fair measure) North Korea comes first with a whooping 34% of GDP. The USA and Iran are head to head with 3.2%.
* Canada was #133 with a modest 1.1%, and Venezuela was 148 with a 0.9%
Note that the US estimate is based on 1999 stats, so it's going to be much much higher now.
Cheers,
I've often wondered how they put together that particular statistic. You know, there are a lot of countries where if you take American dollars and convert them at the going exchange rate to the local currency, that money will buy you a lot more than the original dollars would in the U.S. So it doesn't seem to me that you can fairly compare expenditures -- even after adjusting it to per capita basis as a percent of GNP.
To give you an example, I was in the US Navy for almost 9 years. The last full year I served I earned about $19,000 in wages plus around $200 or $300 per month housing allowance. That was as an E-6 (sixth enlisted grade). Compare that to what soldiers make in other countries. I wasn't getting rich by any means, but with the wife working we rented a nice little house in the Connecticut countyside -- no worse than any blue-collar civilian.
I'm not saying that the U.S. doesn't spend a god-awful amount on the the military, but I wonder how comparative those kind of statistics really are.
Rod
