Is the US crippling itself by overspending on defense?

Part of the reason why China's GDP is absolutely rocketing past the US is because of their relatively low defense spending (~1.8% of GDP), compared to the US's official defense spending at 3.74%. However, since the Bush administration, various top officials including a VPOTUS has clarified that there are hidden "dark budgets" and "shadow departments" that are given funding to develop defense-related projects but downplaying military spending from the public eye. These same sources has said that true US expenditures were over 1 trillion nominal in the early 2000s, and are estimated to currently be 1.1 trillion (official figure is 780 billion). This means that the US is fushing 5.33% of its GDP down the drain every year on achieving "military hegemony".

Is this really a wise move by the US? Their military isn't even that formidable, given most of the budget is sucked up by the military-industrial complex or blown on dead-end projects due to rampant corruption. 
 

The US air force and carriers is the only advantage that the US has over China, despite China spending something like 1/3 of what the US officially does. China has superior missiles, ICBMs, infantry, artillery, destroyers and submarines. 
 

Is the US doomed to have a collapsing economy due to their overspending?

Region
4 Comments
 

There is a good Youtube video about how the defense budget is bloated and given to people who are severely underqualified or missued. US probably can relocate these budget to a better use definitely.

Though this argument probably applies for China as well in your example as I'm sure the CCP officials "reallocate" expenses into their pocket before dropping them into the bucket (tbh not only china but a lot of countries as well)

 

Commodi dicta tempore maiores magni vel quo nulla. Unde saepe suscipit deleniti dolore voluptates. Exercitationem fuga ut voluptatem voluptatem quis est numquam. Odit atque sunt perspiciatis esse laudantium. Impedit aut dolore hic saepe quam. Ipsum iure consectetur incidunt quis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (17) $409
  • Associates (58) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”