Defense spending

European countries are gearing up to increase their defense spending. Since the end of WW 2 they have depended on the US for their protection but Trump has encouraged them to start paying their own way. Here is what Germany is doing. Since the middle of the Cold War era, Germany’s military expenditure as a percentage of GDP has dropped dramatically. Peaking at 4.9% in 1963, it fell to an all-time low in 2005 of just 1.1%. Germany has just passed a major reform to its constitutional debt brake, unlocking billions of euros in funding. One model shared with CNN suggested that over a 10-year period, with Germany spending 3.5% of GDP, it could amount to €600 billion ($652 billion). Other countries in the EU are following similar paths. These changes will allow the US to spend less on defense and help lower the overall budget unless the savings is used to introduce new benefits to win votes which has been the norm in the past.