The full cost of war: $2.7T military + $2.4T dead people + $1.9T blown-up buildings + $3.7T in lost growth = $11.4T/year. That's 12.7% of global GDP. The Pentagon can't find $2.5T of its own stuff.
Posts tagged 'government-spending'
24 posts tagged with "government-spending"
Oxford tested COVID treatments for $500/patient and saved a million lives in 100 days. The NIH spent $1.6B and completed zero trials in four years. Only 3.3% of its budget tests cures.
What if we took 1% of global military spending ($27.2B/year) and used it to actually save lives? 10.7 billion deaths averted. The maths checks out. The species does not.
Governments claim $68B on "medical research" but only $4.5B goes to clinical trials—56 cents per human. That's a 604:1 military-to-cure ratio. We spend more on pet food than on not dying.
The US government wastes $4.9T annually—17% of GDP. The Pentagon can't find $2.5T of its own assets. Americans spend 7.9 billion hours doing taxes. Systems engineering says we can fix this.
Civilization runs at 51.9% efficiency. The governance gap costs $101 trillion/year—$50,500 per household. We're leaving $1.16M per person on the table because meetings run long.
Pragmatic clinical trials: current $0.5B, optimal $50B (9,900% underinvestment). Military: current $850B, optimal $459B. Agricultural subsidies: optimal $0. This spreadsheet is devastating.
Federal Reserve creates money electronically, buys bonds from investors. Bondholders get free money first. By the time it reaches you, inflation already ate it. Money printer go brr.
USPS junk mail 65% discount kills 100 million trees annually. You pay $126/year so credit card offers arrive faster. Beautiful circle of life.
US military spending 1914-2007. Countries spend trillions preparing to kill each other, then kill each other, then prepare again. Beautiful cycle.
US spends 37% of global military budget with 4.4% of world population. $600 billion on weapons. Switzerland makes chocolate instead.
Government spends $65,337 per voter annually. You could buy a car or pay student loans. Instead government bought fighter jets for you.
$500 million per terrorism death vs $2,000 per stroke death. You're 3x more likely to be struck by lightning than killed by terrorists.
$1.8 trillion global military spending vs $100 million brain research. Chart required 17,000 pixels high to show military spending properly.
$1.5 trillion spent on drug war enforcement with zero change in addiction rates. Like paying someone $10 billion yearly to not do their job.
Pentagon lost $2.3 trillion announced Sept 10, 2001. Next day planes hit towers. Perfect timing for forgetting about military waste.
Obama budget $3.80 trillion vs Romney $3.79 trillion. 0.26% difference. Same banks fund both. Democracy is working perfectly wrong.
Government spending above 25% of GDP slows economic growth. OECD countries prove it. Every dollar above 25% is basically lighting money on fire and calling it policy.
Banks needed $125 billion TARP bailout. Same banks gave $1 million each to Obama 2008 and Romney 2012. Both candidates support bailouts.
Ron Paul proposed $1 trillion cuts. Romney, Gingrich, Cain only $20 billion each. Real inflation 10% not 3.5%. Hidden tax hits hardest.
US spends $92 billion on corporate welfare vs $59 billion on food stamps. CEOs need help buying medium-sized yachts apparently.
Fed printed $6 trillion for bank bailouts. Stock prices soared, rich got richer, poor can't afford houses. Inflation only 1.5% though.
Obama quadrupled deficit to $2 trillion, then cut to $533 billion. Media called it fiscal responsibility. Like setting house on fire then putting out half.
Debt projected to reach 350% of GDP by 2080 if policies continue unchanged. It's not a prediction; it's a math problem with one solution: something breaks.