Stop being so defensive in your spending

What portion of GDP does the US spend on defense?

*GDP = Use our GoPo Glossary to define your terms.

1. How accurate was your prediction

2. Describe a defense spending trend you see in the data.

3. Why do you think that is?

4. What is a consequence of the overall trend in defense spending?

5. What is your opinion of this level of U.S. defense spending?

6. How do you think that POTUS Trump will impact this trend of military spending?*

7. Write in the names of all the past presidents during the time period of the chart. List the party of each president. Does one party tend to spend more than the other on defense?

8. What do you think this chart will look like over the next twenty years?

9. What trend in defense spending do you think is happening in China?

10. Why do the crazy British call it defence instead of defense, what else do they misspell, and when do you think they'll ever learn?

11. How long have we been at war in Afghanistan?

12. How do you think this defense spending compares to other areas of spending in the U.S. budget?*

13. What tends to happen to the level of defense spending during wartime?

14. When on this chart have we NOT been at war?

15. How do you think our defense spending compares to that of other countries?*

16. Who decides on military spending levels for the U.S.?

17. In what ways would a typical liberal and conservative differ on their views of military spending?

18. Is the amount of money the U.S. spends on the military a big issue in the midterm elections?

Bonus Visuals*

Learning Extension

Read this Heritage Foundation article about the portion of GDP the US spends on the military.

Action Extension

Contact the POTUS and tell him what you think about current U.S. military spending levels.