The Social Security Shortfall and the National Defense Shortfall

April 2005, Dean Baker

This paper finds that the additional spending required to maintain U.S. military dominance in the coming decades is likely to be many times larger than the projected Social Security shortfall. Using a purchasing power parity (PPP) measure of GDP, China's economy is already two-thirds of the size of the U.S. economy and is projected to exceed it by 2016. If China devotes a comparable share of its GDP to defense, then keeping pace will impose a large economic burden on the United States. (IB200504A)

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