NationStates Jolt Archive

I looked through all the usual stickies and didn't find an answer to this question.

What's the biggest budget percentage a nation of 10 million or so with a "reasonable" economy can spend on defense? I think 50% is totally unrealistic but I'd like to know if there's a set guideline for this.

Reason: my decision not to sell someone stuff from my storefront has been challenged and I'd like to see the rules on this one.

50% is entirely too much. I don't know the proper range of acceptable numbers, but I've heard that the US can spend as much as 20-30% of the annual budget on defense during times of intense war (Vietnam, WWII).

Any others want to weigh in on this? Is there an official NS ruling on budget percentages?

Well, look at RL for a guide. Generally you can get up to about 10% of GDP towards the military before you start cutting into your economy. Canada spends 1.2%. The US spends 3.8% of GDP. Israel spends 9.4%. North Korea spends... um, a lot more. Something like 30%. And you're probably aware of their situation.

For Menelmacar, I simply state that our military budget is pegged at five percent of GDP. That way it scales up as my population does.

~Siri

Thanks.

I read somewhere else (I can't find it now) that 45% was a reasonable figure. The US can't spend that much on the budget because it has other priorities, such as health care, Social Security, Welfare, etc. etc. However, a nation like the DPRK, or North Korea, can easily committ 45% and probably even more of its budget into its war machine.
Edit: for clarification, this is 45% of the budget, not of the GDP.

The United Socialist States of Renard spends 10% of it's national budget on defense, although this will probably be revised down soon. The GDP is currently $21.7billion (what on earth did I *do* to my economy?), so the whole national budget is $283million.