[Economics] Myth Fat State - Defense and Bundeswehr

Siehe auch:
[Wirtschaft] Mythos Fetter Staat - Verteidigung und Bundeswehr

The myth of a large and ever-expanding state is being perpetuated all too often these days. Minimalist state advocates and libertarians such as Milei, Musk, and Krall are making their ideas very popular. The key values are presented below.

First it is clear that the federal budget is continuously declining relative to GDP. The times of very high defense spending are logically the times of the cold war. And since the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989) defense spending as a percentage of GDP fell into the 2000s.

[1, UVGD] [2] [3]

[3]

[1, UVGD] [2] [3]

However a closer look at the finances since 2000 reveals an opposing picture. Germany's military spending as a share of GDP fluctuates.

[3]

In total Germany's military spending has been either stable in nominal and inflation-adjusted terms in the recent past (2006 to 2014) or even increased (2015 to 2023). It should be noted here that this proves rising military spending not only since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. In fact Germany's military spending has been rising since 2014.

[1, UVGD] [1, ZCPIN] [3]

This development becomes even more clear when one relates Germany's military spending to the number of soldiers. Since the number of soldiers in the Bundeswehr has been falling for a long time Germany's military spending per soldier is rising even more steeply than Germany's military spending in total.

[1, UVGD] [1, ZCPIN] [3] [4]

[Economics] Myth Fat State - Investment
[Economics] Myth Fat State - Staff
[Economics] Myth Fat State - Debt and Interest
[Economics] Myth Fat State - Welfare State

Src:
[1] AMECO database
https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/economic-research-and-databases/economic-databases/ameco-database_en
[2] Gesamtübersicht über die Entwicklung des Bundeshaushalts 1969 bis 2023
https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Monatsberichte/Ausgabe/2024/03/Inhalte/Kapitel-6-Statistiken/6-1-11-gesamtuebersicht-entwicklung-bundeshaushalt.html
[3] SIPRI Military Expenditure Database
https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex
[4] Anzahl der Soldaten und Soldatinnen bei der Bundeswehr von 2000 bis 2024
https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/38401/umfrage/personalbestand-der-bundeswehr-seit-2000/