Where does the US budget money go compared to other countries according to OECD data? #USbudget #OECDdata #government spending
– How does the US per capita spending compare to countries like Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, and Japan?
– What percentage of the US budget is allocated to defense spending, as reported by the Treasury Department?
– Can adjustments in defense spending levels affect the ranking of the US compared to the UK, New Zealand, and Japan?
– Why do some people feel that the US doesn’t spend as much as the UK, especially in areas like nationalized healthcare?
– Are there factors missing from the statistics that could explain discrepancies in perceived spending levels?
– Is there a systemic issue contributing to the discrepancy between US budget allocation and perceived outcomes?
As Paul Krugman reminds us, the US federal government is essentially [an insurance company with an army](https://archive.nytimes.com/krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/an-insurance-company-with-an-army/). You ask where the money goes? The majority of it goes towards social insurance programs, like social security, medicare, etc. Military spending takes up most of the rest. There’s very little left after taking out spending that’s related to the military or the social saftey net. Of what’s left, big ticket items are spending on transportation, education, and interest on the federal debt.