Question

Bugeting. Sometimes military strategy drives the budget and sometimes budget concerns constrain the strategy? Should budget concerns contain the military strategy?

Answer 1

Capital is limited, & capital moving into one spending category implies that there’s less funds for something else. This reality becomes more interesting when we consider that any governmental expenditure exceeding revenues outcomes in a deficit which is added up in the national debt. The inflating national debt has an economic consequence on everyone, & military expenditure is one of several contributing factors. As the national debt increases, the interest expenditure of the debt augments & the cost of borrowing subtly rises due to the risk which escalated debt denotes. Theoretically, the augmented debt will drag on economic growth & finally a driver towards greater taxes.

As of now, though, America particularly has enjoyed generous debt conditions from domestic & foreign lenders, so the role that military expenditure plays in increasing the debt is usually not focused upon. Few advocates for diminished military spending have tied it to a particular percentage rise in the mortgage rates persons pay, given the relation between treasury yields & commercial loaning. This logic holds and military expenditure does sit as a big percentage of discretionary expenditure.

In other countries, particularly the ones which are still developing economically, a concentration on military spending usually implies sacrificing other essential spending priorities. There are several countries which have a standing military but an undependable public infrastructure. North Korea is an extreme instance of what an unrelenting concentration on military expenses can do to the standard of living for the general populace. The generous debt conditions that America enjoys are far from universal, thus, the trade-off between military expenses & public infrastructure is more painful for most nations

The actual concern is what’s an ‘adequate’ amount of military expenditure, given that each extra buck spent oven & above the necessary level is a definite loss for the entire economy . In a democracy, that concern is deliberated by publicly elected officials & changes from one year to the next . For instance, military spending America has been diminishing as military engagements overseas wrap up. In non-democratic countries, however, the adequate level of spending is decided by a exclusive few & may come at even a higher cost to the nation’s citizens.