The U.S. easily beats other countries in defense spending. In fact, its defense expenditures accounted for 37% of the world’s military budgets in 2015.  Last year the total US spending on defense reached $596 billion. This figure is more than the defense spending by the next seven countries combined according to Peterson Foundation.

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Source: Peter G.Peterson Foundation

Military Expenditures in US Discretionary Spending:

Military spending alone is projected to account for more than half (54%) of all US discretionary spending in fiscal year 2015.

Source: National Priorities Project

Some thoughts on US defense spending:

US allies benefit from the high spending on defense by the US since they are protected by the US military and they are able to divert their resources to other expenses such as social spending.

High spending on military keeps a large part of the economy active and booming at all times. For instance, defense contractors employ thousands of workers producing all kinds of weapons for the military.

Though it may unnecessary to devote more than half the nation’s budget to defense, there are many benefits. For example, military spending many wonderful innovations such as the internet and not the over-hype up venture capital industry.

For millions of middle to poor Americans the US military is the only outlet for getting a job, education and career for a variety of reasons. Without high defense budgets most of these folks would join the ranks of the unemployed. So in a sense the military can be considered as “the employer of last resort”.

Since the world is constantly changing and threats are everywhere, having a powerful world-class military ensures enemies are kept at bay. During peace times, military is a great tool to offer humanitarian assistance to people in need. From Hurricane Katrina to Haiti Earthquakes and thousands of other natural and human disasters, US military personnel provided immeasurable aid and service to victims.

The current U.S. Population is over 324 million according to the  US Census Bureau. The population has grown consistently over the years since 1920. In fact, the US population has soared from about 110 million or so in 1920 to 324 million today. Though the land area remains the same more than doubling of the population has put strains on resources and services. Both legal and illegal immigration has contributed to the population growth.

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US Population Growth by year:

Source: Trading Economics

Compared to the US, the population of Russia is only 143 million. Though Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of land size, the population is less than half of the U.S. The population growth rate in Russia has been negative since 2000. In 1950, the population of Russia was about just over 100 million. Since then it has not not even increased by 50%. The U.S. population in 1950 was about 150 million. From that year the population has soared by more than 100% to 324 million now. So the rate of population growth in the US is much higher than Russia.

Russian Population Growth by year:

Source: Wikipedia