Defense
Do you know which areas of your government's budget receive the most funding? The way in which money is spent by a government is influenced by several different factors including the economy, trade and international relations. Government spending can be strongly influenced by other factors such as natural disasters, war, famine and increasing poverty levels.
One of the largest areas that a government will spend money on is defense. Some countries – depending on their political outlooks, international relationships and security concerns – will spend sizeable amounts of their annual budget on defense. Others will spend a lower amount if there is less of a perceived threat or if the country is separated from trouble areas by large geographic distances.
In the U.S., defense claims a substantial portion of the government budget every year. The exact amount the government invests in defense fluctuates depending on current conflicts, potential conflicts, security agreements with other countries and other government priorities.
There are two different types of government spending outlined in a budget. These are referred to as discretionary spending and mandatory spending. Funding for defense issues comes from discretionary spending, which means that the government determines a set sum of money which is allocated for defense each year.
The recipient of this funding is the Department of Defense. The money is then used for the maintenance of existing equipment and the purchase of new equipment, employee salaries, training costs, support for current operations and the development of new operations. The Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Army and Navy are all funded by this money.
If you're interested in finding out how much money is spent on defense each year, consider the figures below. In 2006, $419 billion dollars was spent on all areas of defense. This year, the U.S government is predicted to spend $532.8 billion. This does not include support for current conflicts which are funded through separate budgets. Interestingly, government spending on defense in the U.S is the highest in the world and makes up more than half of the government's discretionary spending.
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