You can spend an awful lot on so-called defense without any real defense.
From Adam Tooze, this is Chartbook #389:
“$3.1 trillion on European defense over a decade ... really? Can you send us the data please.”
The reaction of my editors at the FT to an early draft of my recent op ed on European defense policy was more than understandable. Can it really be true?
European militaries are reputedly out of their depths in facing the new world created by Russia attack on Ukraine. For years, they are said to have been starved of funding by short-sighted politicians. The answer to the current crisis is to increase their budgets to 3.5 percent of GDP, or even 5 percent, depending on how you count.
So it does come as a something of a shock to learn how much money has, actually, been spent by Europe on its defenses in recent years, without, it seems getting much bang for its trillions of bucks....
We have quite a few links to/about Professor. Tooze. Here are a couple that come to mind:
Adam Tooze Looks At Hydrogen
As unofficial ambassadors of the Adam Tooze fan club we invite you to join the fun and accept the official AT coffee mug as our gift..
From Adam Tooze's Chartbook:
