I hear that the Bush administration wants, and will probably get, $550 billion dollars this year. (350 billion quid). That is roughly the same amount as the entire GDP of China.

Adjusted for inflation, this is the largest defence budget ever, larger even than when the US and NATO faced the evil empire poised with tens of thousands of tanks ready to roll accross europe, not to mention squillions of US and Soviet nukes ready to send us into an atomic holocaust, Biochem Weapons Development, and hundreds of thousands of troops going on exercise the entire time in Central Europe..

Does this strike anyone as odd? Or in any way alarming?

Alarming, yes. Surprising, no. I just don't feel that mr bush has any concern for anyone else other than himself sometimes... and i still remember the chill the crossed my soul when he was voted in...

It's worth pointing out that the american billion is different to our billion, and not sure which ones those figures are using, but even so it's a fair amount of money.

It'd be interesting to compare this budget with their (non-corporate) welfare budget.

Mike, our billions are both the same these days. At one point our billion was a million-million (or something crazy) but we are now on the international system which means a billion is 1,000 million both here and in the US of A.

Defence Budgets...
USA: $401bn
Russia: $65bn (2001 figures)
China: $47bn (2001 figures)
Japan: $42.6bn
UK: $38.4bn
Source: US Centre for Defense Information

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3234960.stm

Well, you learn something every day - I still thought we were on different billions - when did that change?

Originally posted by Mike
Well, you learn something every day - I still thought we were on different billions - when did that change?
I asked the same question here:

Where have our billions gone? (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2731&highlight=billion)

and the silence was deafening.

Originally posted by max
I asked the same question here:

Where have our billions gone? (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2731&highlight=billion)

and the silence was deafening.

Oh max, you should be ashamed:
" In 1974 British prime minister Harold Wilson abandoned the use of billion for 10^12, by explaining before the House of Commons the fact that "billion" from now on in British government statistics has the American use i.e. means 10^9."

Actually the answer appears to be 'recently', and not necessarily universally.

For more information than you probaby want:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion

Nomme

Originally posted by nomme
Oh max, you should be ashamed:


Why should I be ashamed? If you're implying that I should remember then I'd like to point out that I spent a lot of 1974 in NZ.

1974 :o

I really should know that then :blush:

It pains me to know that governments are prepared and willing to spend billions on destroying lives, and a fraction of that on saving them.

Where did it all go wrong?

Originally posted by Hodge
It pains me to know that governments are prepared and willing to spend billions on destroying lives, and a fraction of that on saving them.

Where did it all go wrong?

From before the days of the Roman Empire, countries have been forced to spend vast sums of money on defence, or risk being destroyed by evil powers. America is no different to anyone else including us, and in recent times we would have been taken over by Adolph Hitler had we not been prepared to spend £millions on destroying that evil butcher.

No one wants to waste money on armaments, but what choice have we? we have to be ready to defend ourselves, or wait like sitting ducks to be attacked. "Get with it man" this is the real World we would be commiting suicide not to have a defence, the powers of evil will always be ready to attack the unwary.

Originally posted by Phanerothyme


Does this strike anyone as odd? Or in any way alarming?

Not really, if it was not the US it would be somebody else.

Has there ever been a perfect world, conflict is completely natural, why have humans developed a conscience, why are people so arrogant to believe they have the answers?


"If you value peace over freedom, you will lose" Alistair Cooke

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