NATO's Hallucinations
www.counterpunch.org
Having agreed to increase their military spending to 5% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the European states have created a series of problems for themselves. The first problem is that they would have to invent the money out of their tight budgets. To raise their military expenditure to 5% of GDP would require them to reduce their social spending – in other words, to deepen the austerity policies that are already in place.
  • MrScruff@lemmy.zip
    0·
    1 month ago

    Whoever wrote this is pretty silly. They’re assuming 5% of GDP goes towards making guns. That is not the case. 1.5% of that can be spent on things like infrastructure and cyber security. Which isn’t (necessarily) going to be stripping money away from other spending.

    The traditional defense spending budget is only raising to 3.5%.

    • solo@piefed.socialOPEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      I don’t think I understand why you say that the author is assuming 5% of GDP goes towards making guns, since they talk throughout the article about military expenditure and military spending, which are much broader terms.

    • rumimevlevi@lemmings.worldBanned
      0·
      1 month ago

      They are cutting public service and supports to population to increase “defense” spending. Like the uk trying to cut disability benefits