Wednesday, April 04, 2007
The Tax Man Cometh - Where Our Money Goes
Guns and Butter
It is that time of the year. April 17, the deadline for filing tax returns, is nagging those who have yet to begin the process. Of course, there are those who filed early and already got their refunds -- lucky them.
As President Bush and Congress face off over appropriations for his pet war, cover of The New Yorker, (copied below) reminds us where our money --- a great chunk of it goes. When it comes to Defense budgets we are Number 1, unquestionably the 500 lb. gorilla towering over the rest of the world. Some interesting facts:
- The US Department of Defense has submitted its FY 2007 budget request for $439.3 billion. This is 7% more than the FY 2006 request, but slightly less than the $441.5 billion eventually appropriated by Congress in the FY 2006 budget. (Source: Defense Industry Daily)
- Defence expenditure in the US will equal that of the rest of the world combined within 12 months, making it "increasingly pressing" for European contractors to develop a "closer association" with the US, corporate finance group PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says.
Take a look at major member nations of the European Union. The numbers (in US Dollars) were reported in February 2005.
| Institute for Security Studies, European Union United Kingdom 49 Billion - Percentage of GDP 2.4 (2003) France 40 Billion - Percentage of GDP 2.6 Germany 29.7 - Percentage of GDP 1.5 Italy 17.5 - Percentage of GDP 1.9 Total for 15 European Union member countries was 126.94. Percentage of GDP for the United States was 3.7 |
