Government

Since 1950 the Europeans have developed more social benefits than the US. European governments spend a significantly larger share of their budgets on social protection programs (including disability and old-age pensions, welfare, unemployment insurance, housing assistance and income support) compared to the US. In economics this is called guns and butter and they spend a lot of money on butter but not much on guns. The reason is they have depended on the US for protection. This was particularly true during the 50-year cold war but has continued since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990. The average European citizen spends $700 on defense and the average American spends $2,800 or four times as much. Europe spends 1.6% of its GDP on defense while the US spends 3.7%. While doing this they have placed high tariffs on US imports as the US continued with low or zero tariffs on imports from Europe. The US has shouldered the bulk of the cost of world groups like the UN, the WTO and the WHO and has 120 bases around the world where 170,000 US troops are stationed. Trump has let the world know that this is about to change, that the US will no longer be the worlds policeman. This change is necessary because the US has accumulated $36 trillion in debt and can no longer afford these commitments. Most Europeans and many in America want the US to continue the old way but that’s because they have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. These are the same people who do not want cuts to US government programs.