US Goods Inflation

[Dashinka 24,494]

13 hours ago, Bug&Bug said:

I see, thanks for explaining.

 

I think we agree mostly then, just not fully. 

 

I think the western countries mismanaged the pandemic, ignoring it until it was too late, opening up to soon, having a terrible preparedness plan, no attempts to supressing the virus, etc. I dont think they fabricated the crisis, they just did a very [removed] job to mitigate it, making it a very long problem we are still in the middle of.  And therefore a consequence of that is long economic crisis.

 

Personally I would like to see spending cuts in military, a crackdown on the medical lobbies and on student debt so people are not crippled with stupid dept and money is injected into the economy. I also think social programs and unemployement are more needed that ever otherwise that will only create more recession at a fragile time.

But there really is not a good way forward. We are going to be in a hole for several years no matter what.

 

(Im not an economist so i might be totally wrong. This is just my view after a couple big economic crisises and recessions. )

I always here "cut the military budget", but that is really not where all the spending goes.  The real problem is that nearly 3/4 of federal spending goes toward mandatory programs such as SSA, unemployment, health care, and the military spending is approximately 50% of 25% of the overall spending.  Now of course the data below is 2015, and I think things may have changed a bit (particularly the amount of interest on the debt, but the Feds really needs to do something regarding the mandatory spending.

 

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/

Edited May 7, 2021 by TBoneTX
unacceptable word removed from quote

[Bug&Bug 147]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

I always here "cut the military budget", but that is really not where all the spending goes.  The real problem is that nearly 3/4 of federal spending goes toward mandatory programs such as SSA, unemployment, health care, and the military spending is approximately 50% of 25% of the overall spending.  Now of course the data below is 2015, and I think things may have changed a bit (particularly the amount of interest on the debt, but the Feds really needs to do something regarding the mandatory spending.

 

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/

Well its not about quantity its about need.

 

Do you need to spend more in military than any other country together? No, then use that money for something better. 

 

Do you need it for unemployement and healthcare, well obviously. Then spend it. 

[Ban Hammer 13,336]

19 minutes ago, Bug&Bug said:

 

Do you need to spend more in military than any other country together? No, then use that money for something better. 

 

that would require the usa pulling out of many treaties.

[Dashinka 24,494]

32 minutes ago, Ban Hammer said:

that would require the usa pulling out of many treaties.

Wasn't there huge blowback when Trump suggested reducing our presence in Europe?

 

56 minutes ago, Bug&Bug said:

Well its not about quantity its about need.

 

Do you need to spend more in military than any other country together? No, then use that money for something better. 

 

Do you need it for unemployement and healthcare, well obviously. Then spend it. 

So you are all about the amount?  The US does not even crack the top 15 in the percentage of overall spending going to the military.

[Bug&Bug 147]

19 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

So you are all about the amount?  The US does not even crack the top 15 in the percentage of overall spending going to the military.

I dont understand why your answer to everything is just automatic whataboutism.

 

So what? 

[B_J 2,752]

1 hour ago, Bug&Bug said:

Do you need to spend more in military than any other country together? 

Yes

[Bug&Bug 147]

1 hour ago, Ban Hammer said:

that would require the usa pulling out of many treaties.

Well, I personally dont see the problem. Is not like the usa hasnt pulled out of treaties before. 

[Ban Hammer 13,336]

51 minutes ago, Bug&Bug said:

Well, I personally dont see the problem. Is not like the usa hasnt pulled out of treaties before. 

so you're fine with leaving countries and their people around the world (not to mention the movement of global goods) out to dry?

i.e. south korea/europe/australia and many more?

[Bug&Bug 147]

38 minutes ago, Ban Hammer said:

so you're fine with leaving countries and their people around the world (not to mention the movement of global goods) out to dry?

i.e. south korea/europe/australia and many more?

I didnt say that. I said they can cut costs.

[LIBrty4all 3,749]

2 hours ago, Bug&Bug said:

I dont understand why your answer to everything is just automatic whataboutism.

 

So what? 

That's not whataboutism.  It's simply facts presented to show you that the US doesn't spend all that much compared to other nations.  And Biden has already promised to spend $70 BILLION less on the military than the last year under Trump, so you have that small victory in your corner.

 

Yes, the US spends a fair amount on our military, and I for one am very thankful for that.  It ensures our freedoms and our military superiority.  As a percentage of GDP, the US is # 12 in the world, as you can see from the charts in the link below. (I know @Dashinka said the US didn't crack the top 15, but in these charts, they are #12.  Unfortunately, I did not see a date on the site below, so hard to tell what year they are referring to.  In 2019/2020, the US wasn't in the top 15, as stated above.  I am sharing the chart because some people are better with pictures than numbers)

 

https://armedforces.eu/budget/ranking_percent_gross_domestic_product

 

Also bear in mind that military spending, roughly 3.1%, is only a small part of the 46% of overall government spending.

 

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by LIBrty4all

[Ban Hammer 13,336]

1 hour ago, Bug&Bug said:

I didnt say that. I said they can cut costs.

yes, you did say that.  and as for cutting costs, right now the military is stretched pretty thin both in manpower and budget
 

Quote

Well, I personally dont see the problem. Is not like the usa hasnt pulled out of treaties before. 

 

[Bug&Bug 147]

5 minutes ago, LIBrty4all said:

 

 

You dont get it do you.

 

It only matters if they cut on things where they are not needed and spent in things that are. 

Thats the only thing that matters and what we are talking about. 

 

Is there a need to spend 900 billion per year in the middle of an economic crisis? My uneducated opinion is that no, surely that can be cut down and used more smartly elsewhere such as unemployment, schools, foodbanks, creating employment, etc.  Cracking down on the medical lobby to make healthcare afordable and reducing medical and student debt will also help the economy. 

 

Im happy to hear opinions on how expenditure could be better to mitigate the economic crisis coming our way. Im not an economist so eager to learn. Your rankings and charts about military spending by gdp are totally  irrelevant to the discussion and only whataboutism with no substance. 

[LIBrty4all 3,749]

1 minute ago, Bug&Bug said:

You dont get it do you.

 

It only matters if they cut on things where they are not needed and spent in things that are. 

Thats the only thing that matters and what we are talking about. 

 

Is there a need to spend 900 billion per year in the middle of an economic crisis? My uneducated opinion is that no, surely that can be cut down and used more smartly elsewhere such as unemployment, schools, foodbanks, creating employment, etc.  Cracking down on the medical lobby to make healthcare afordable and reducing medical and student debt will also help the economy. 

 

Im happy to hear opinions on how expenditure could be better to mitigate the economic crisis coming our way. Im not an economist so eager to learn. Your rankings and charts about military spending by gdp are totally  irrelevant to the discussion and only whataboutism with no substance. 

I DO get it.  I think perhaps someone else here does not.  You want to talk about wasteful spending?  How much of the "covid stimulus bills" went to foreign aid?  Do you know?  How much of stimulus #1 went to WH janitorial supplies?  I remember one article saying that if we took all the foreign aid from one of the bills and gave it to working Americans, each person would have gotten about $17,000 instead of the paltry sums we did get.  As opposed to giving $10 million to Pakistan for gender studies.

 

Also, let's be real here.  The US has never spent $900 billion on our military.  Also on the vein of keeping it real, you think my charts are irrelevant simply because they don't further your opinion, period.  The charts are not my opinion. they are simply a method of illustrating where the US stands among other countries when it comes to military spending.  Perhaps instead of trying to cancel my post with your culture, you should try to understand the substance within.  Because I assure, you it's in there, irrespective of one's personal beliefs.

 

Here's another chart that you probably won't like:

 

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/military-spending-defense-budget 

 

From 1960 until today, our military spending has become a smaller and smaller part of government spending.

 

 

[Bug&Bug 147]

Well I dont know what your opinion is because all you do is go off topic bickering about any sentence I say. 

 

First time you actually provide an on topic opinion with some substance. Reducing foreign aid, there you go. And you still had to get your knickers in a twist for that. 

 

Honestly, it sounds like some of you here are just trying to find reasons to cry BuT wHaTaBoUt BiDeN and that is actually the purpose of this subforum instead of actually discussing a topic and exchanging ideas in any meaningful way. Naive of me. 

[LIBrty4all 3,749]

4 minutes ago, Bug&Bug said:

Well I dont know what your opinion is because all you do is go off topic bickering about any sentence I say. 

 

First time you actually provide an on topic opinion with some substance. Reducing foreign aid, there you go. And you still had to get your knickers in a twist for that. 

 

Honestly, it sounds like some of you here are just trying to find reasons to cry BuT wHaTaBoUt BiDeN and that is actually the purpose of this subforum instead of actually discussing a topic and exchanging ideas in any meaningful way. Naive of me. 

I have been on topic all along, just providing facts that are available on the internet.  I wasn't bickering with you, simply providing some numbers that I hoped would put the military spending into perspective for you.  Obviously it did not, because you find those facts "of no substance".

 

You're the one brought up military spending that we do here in the US like it is out of proportion, which it clearly is not.  As inflation and our government has grown, so too has military budgeting (yes, beans and bullets cost more nowadays, as do service members' salaries), but as a percentage of our spending, those costs have actually gone down.   Again, just some numbers to put it all into perspective.  

 

As for your comment about "crying about Biden", the only thing I said about that was that he promised to cut military spending by $70 billion.  Wasn't crying about it, just stating a fact. Again.  And though you TRIED to make it sound like @Dashinka was using "whataboutism", he actually wasn't.  He just stated that the US isn't in the top 15 countries as regards military funding.  I didn't see any "Biden is bad" in his post either, not sure how you got here from there.

 

At any rate, I am perfectly on topic IMO.  If you feel otherwise, feel free to report my posts to the admin and I am sure someone will remove anything I have said that is off topic.  If you're simply having a bad day, then I am sorry if my posting has made it any worse.  Last thing I want to do is upset anyone here.