• Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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    7 months ago

    GDP is not the amount of money spent on infrastructure or foreign aid. That comes directly from tax dollars and need to be measured that way. The entire economic output of the United States is not relevant when discussing infrastructure rebuilding or foreign aid.

    • Neuromancer
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      7 months ago

      It’s how we measure funding for programs.

      And no they don’t come from tax dollars. They come from borrowing which is a large part of our problem. We over spend every year. Our tax revenue doesn’t even come close to our spending.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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        7 months ago

        Sorry… you think foreign aid and infrastructure doesn’t come from tax dollars? What do you think is in government budgets that have to get passed every year?

        • Neuromancer
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          7 months ago

          The point being is we borrow for those things. Each year we go further and further in debt. Tax revenue is not exceeding the expenditures and it hasn’t for a very long time.

      • jonne@infosec.pub
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        7 months ago

        The GDP is only used in the context of NATO. For everything else you use % of the budget.

        • Neuromancer
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          7 months ago

          It’s how things are measured in general. It’s a common government statistic