Defense Spending as a Percent of GDP, 1940-2009

After reaching 38% of GDP during World War II, defense spending dropped below 5% of GDP in the years immediately following the war, rose to nearly 15% at the start of the cold war as the US rearmed and built up its stock pile of atomic weapons, declined through the late '50s and early '60s to 7%, jumped again during the Vietnam War to 10%, declined throughout the '70s and early '80s, headed up again during the Reagan era of rearmament as we spent the Russians into state failure, droped again in the late '80s and early '90s until Desert Storm, declined until the beginning of the millennium until 9/11 when it rose steadily to almost 5% of GDP in 2008.

Defense Spending as a Percentage of GDP, 1940-2009