BF2S Forums Occupy Wall Street

Why would they wait? They're paid for accurate and timely analysis, its no good coming back a few years later and saying "Duh yeah, now we actually look at the figures...."

According to Michael Lewis, ratings agencies get the dud employees of the financial world.

Because they have to. Its like companies having their accounts audited every year, there is no choice about it and very few companies do it.

Many governments and companies require a rating before they can buy or sell an investment.
With luck this will end, or new competent agencies will spring up and the old incompetent ones will fail.

Dilbert_X wrote:

The first figure is % GDP.
Apart from a few small freaks, the US is ahead of everyone else by a factor of two.

In terms of % of government expenditure, spending per capita, and so on, the same arguments apply.

You should be getting economies of scale really.

US is 10th in the world, as a percentage of GDP. Of course European nations pay less, in both absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP...they've had Uncle Sam footing the bill for the past 60-odd years. It's easy to pay less when you don't have to...

As stated, China underreports their defense expenditures by at least a factor of two, which would put them in the same GDP percentage as the US (4.4% vs 4.7% of GDP, respectively).

CIA is intelligence spending, not defense spending. They support all branches of the government, DoD as a minority player, tbh. But it's cute how you think you know how things work and use it to rationalize your positions. So very cute.

Dilbert_X wrote:

RAIMIUS wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

The first figure is % GDP.
Apart from a few small freaks, the US is ahead of everyone else by a factor of two.

In terms of % of government expenditure, spending per capita, and so on, the same arguments apply.

You should be getting economies of scale really.

So, basically, once your remove all the countries that make your statements false, your statements become true.  Well, there is little arguing with logic like that!

Over the last half century the US has consistently been highest.
There are oddities which jump ahead now and then, but on the average US is first, always amongst developed nations.

So, now, as long as we use Cold War spending for the US, take out smaller countries, and add the CIA....
Why are the goalposts moving so much?!

Dilbert_X wrote:

The CIA is a paramilitary outfit, excluding their budget from the figures is simply dishonest.

Do you also include every other nation's intelligence services in their military budgets?

RAIMIUS wrote:

Do you also include every other nation's intelligence services in their military budgets?

How many other intelligence services run proxy wars, or even actual wars?

Dilbert_X wrote:

FEOS wrote:

Of course European nations pay less, in both absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP...they've had Uncle Sam footing the bill for the past 60-odd years. It's easy to pay less when you don't have to...

The US chose to do that for their own purposes.

No, the US simply followed the directives of the alliance they joined.

Dilbert_X wrote:

As stated, China underreports their defense expenditures by at least a factor of two, which would put them in the same GDP percentage as the US (4.4% vs 4.7% of GDP, respectively).

China is industrialising, expanding its GDP and bringing its military up to modern standards, and is still behind the US even if you believe your doubling of the figures.
In per capita terms they are an order of magnitude behind.

"In per capita terms"

Pretty convenient when they have over a billion and a half people, with the majority living in mudhut villages. That's a nonsensical metric, and you know it.

Dilbert_X wrote:

The CIA is a paramilitary outfit, excluding their budget from the figures is simply dishonest.

The CIA is an intelligence outfit with a small number of paramilitary personnel. You really need to learn objectivity and start dealing with facts, rather than your tinfoilhat nonsense.

Dilbert_X wrote:

Jay wrote:

You're paying for it, and now have a worse debt/GDP ratio than Greece.

GG

No we don't.

Dilbert_X wrote:

FEOS wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

How many other intelligence services run proxy wars, or even actual wars?

Most of them, if given the chance.

I mean actually do and have, not might one day.

Pakistan, Russia, Britain, France, China, etc, etc, etc.

lrn2history

Pakistan, Russia, Iran, Britain, China, for sure.  The only one on that list that may be a bit suspect is France.

But dil, I do agree with you that US defense expenditures are not black and white, and numbers could be/are misreported.  It depends on how you want to catagorize certain expenditures.

KEN-JENNINGS wrote:

Pakistan, Russia, Iran, Britain, China, for sure.  The only one on that list that may be a bit suspect is France.

But dil, I do agree with you that US defense expenditures are not black and white, and numbers could be/are misreported.  It depends on how you want to catagorize certain expenditures.

North and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Indochina before they got fully involved militarily.

And US nuke expenditures fall under DoE mostly, rather than DoD (as the article I linked to states). It's overall budgetary voodoo by all countries, regardless.

I know for a fact that India has been hiring mercenaries during the 90s in border skirmishes with Pakistan.

Macbeth wrote:

Cybargs wrote:

I know for a fact that India has been hiring mercenaries

You are an investigative journalist?!

nope, just a friend who was in kashmir in 98.