Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

st6374 t1_ir9pg5u wrote

It says it's % of their GDP. So without knowing their GDP for each year. It's kinda hard to gauge how much they are spending.

If China has twice the GDP than India. Then the spending doesn't mirror each other at all. China would be militarily outspending India by 2*. That wouldn't be mirroring each other at all.

18

crazyhadron t1_ir9ptqu wrote

I guess the point they want to make is that India and China spend in step with each other.

You are gonna get a better gun? I'll get a better gun!

You are gonna get a better ship? I'll get a better ship!

You are gonna get a better space station? I'll get a-oh...

Great success!

12

Jaded_Prompt_15 t1_ir9uxp8 wrote

> make is that India and China spend in step with each other

That might be what they're trying to say, but the data isn't about that...

9

MisterGreys t1_ir9wjh4 wrote

This phenomenon is call the security dilemma, a state increasing their military security leads others to fear for their security, thus increasing their own military spending

6

Jaded_Prompt_15 t1_ir9wri9 wrote

Then you'd talk about total spending, not % of GDP.

If me and Bill Gates spend 2% of our earnings on something, we're not both spending the same amount of money.

What doesn't make sense about that?

9

MisterGreys t1_ir9xixc wrote

I was just talking about the spending for their corresponding years. Yes, their magnitudes are different but it's a response to each other's spending.

3

Jaded_Prompt_15 t1_ira0gzd wrote

Except even that isn't the same....

Most of China is under 2%, and all of India is over 2%

Some years one goes up and the other goes down.

It just looks the same because the graph is shitty and measuring something that doesn't even matter.

4

Dopple__ganger t1_ircpgnv wrote

A governmental budget is never going to be equal between two countries with unequal gdps. The point is, when china increases their spending, India does too. And visa versa.

2

Tordoix t1_ir9ujnj wrote

But exactly that is a very bold statement, the numbers might be correlated but there are many things I could think of why they are probably not causing each other. Primarily both are depending, through the GDP, on the global economic situation. Both countries economies are dependent on trade with the world and show probably the same characteristics. Therefore a measure by GDP gives a less conclusive picture of the situation as it brings in extra correlative factors.

3

Jaded_Prompt_15 t1_ir9v5bd wrote

The vast majority of posts about India don't make sense when you think about them...

9

Macrophage87 t1_ir9v36f wrote

Also, China is notable for 'cooking the books' when it comes to GDP. A lot of countries do, for instance, Italy won an Ig-Nobel prize in economics for including its black market in GDP statistics to boost the numbers.

https://improbable.com/2014/10/15/ig-nobel-winner-triumphs-italy-lifts-out-of-recession-thanks-to-hookers-drugs/

5

DaBIGmeow888 t1_ira2w9z wrote

Do you have a peer-reviewed publication that shows China's GDP is cooked?

1