Video: US budget: in the grip of the financial crisis
2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47
Already, all the financial analysts of the world consider the astronomical deficit experienced by the US federal budget as one of the main threats to the status of the United States as a "superpower". Since the administration of President George W. Bush, the hole in the American budget has grown steadily with unenviable stability every year, voraciously absorbing more and more money from ordinary taxpayers.
And now, under the presidency of Barack Obama, the US budget began to burst at the seams, and its deficit has already exceeded the critical figure of one trillion dollars. Of course, not the last role here was played by the colossal allocations for defense (more precisely, attack) and the gigantic expenses for all kinds of space programs of the high-browed gentlemen from NASA that are insanely necessary for the average American taxpayer.
The highest levels of US budget deficits have already led to an unprecedented increase in public debt, now exceeding the criticalsixteen trillion dollars mark. Which regularly causes a flurry of harsh criticism of the presidential administration from parliamentarians from the Republican Party.
Special attention in this aspect deserves the US military budget, which is the largest in the world. In 2013, it is $701.8 billion. For comparison, according to the data released by the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research, the total military spending of all other countries in the world is $1.339 trillion. dollars. The US budget allocates a little less than four percent of the country's total GDP for the needs of the Pentagon. Which, of course, is significantly inferior to that of the Cold War era, when the United States spent about 5.7% of the gross domestic product on the maintenance of its military machine. But it is also noticeable against the background of the constantly growing "black hole" of the budget, which threatens to swallow the entire American economy.
And one more little illustration on the topic. According to authoritative international studies, in 2007 the US budget allocated 547 billion evergreen dollars to the Pentagon. During the same period, defense spending by Great Britain amounted to less than $60 billion, China - almost $58.3 billion in the same currency, Russia - $35.4 billion, France - $53.6 billion, Saudi Arabia - less than thirty-four billion. The difference is more than noticeable!
If this trend continues, the United States Navy is projected to be forced to limit its presence and significantly reduceactivity in the Pacific-Asian region by about a third. The result of this may be a significantly greater freedom of maneuver for China and Iran, which will have a significant impact on the change in the geopolitical situation in this region of the globe.
Also, a reduction in the cost of maintaining the military department will entail a reduction in the American military presence on the European continent. So far, the United States has borne the brunt of the financial burden of spending on NATO and maintaining the overall readiness of the alliance's forces. This readiness, as the operation against Libya has clearly demonstrated, is very problematic. And now it can become completely depressing. All this will inevitably lead to a change in the geopolitical balance of power.
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