Economic and Political Drivers behind the United States National Defense Expenditure

This paper investigates the influence of economic and political factors that can affect the United States’ National Defense Expenditure (NDE). According to our data, the NDE depends on economic variables rather than social or political drivers. We show that both real gross domestic product and the unemployment rates have a positive correlation with the US NDE. However, the presidential party affiliation, or enjoying the majority or super majority in the Congress, does not have a consistent bearing on the NDE.

JEL Codes: H50, H53, H56