The Defense Spending Myth

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld put forward some unhappy remarks about the Chinese boosting their military, and that made China upset:

"Since the U.S. is spending a lot more money than China is doing on defense, the U.S. should understand that every country has its own security concerns and every country is entitled to spend money necessary for its own defense," Cui told The Associated Press after Rumsfeld's remarks.

China's right to self-defense is a given, and Rumsfeld surely would have kept his mouth shut if he knew who is such a serious threat China. Or maybe he does know and is concerned about China's present response? If China is preparing an attack on Taiwan, Rumsfeld's remarks make a great deal of sense: Protecting Taiwan is not only a good deed, it is a U.S. security policy.

No, what annoys me is Cui repeating the view of U.S. military expenditures that results from using absolute dollars. At first glance, he is correct. The U.S. spent $370,700,000,000 on defense at last report, while China spent $67,490,000,000 for a distant second place. However, much of America's cost is purely by virtue of the United States being more active on the humanitarian scene, demanding more advanced equipment, and spending more on disarmament. Any comparison between military expenditures would do well to consider how much goes toward actual defense, as opposed to humanitarian, development, or support functions. Barring that, the percentage of gross domestic product represents how much a nation pulls from what they have in their wallet...

Suppose we apply that last thought to charity. If a person with $10 in his pocket passes by a collection tin and donates $5, he sacrifices 50% of his available funds. If a person with $100 also donates $5, is he equally charitable?

Out of the respective nations' GDP, the United States stands a full percent below China's 4.30% on defense expenditures... China uses more of its wealth on military.