Military Budgets

In conversation with an economist last night I discovered that the
former Soviet Union's defense budget was about 40% GNP, two years ago.
This compares with the UK in 1944, where a full 52% GNP was being
used for military production.

How do we square these figures with those from Striker (3-15%)?

Just a thought...

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David Lester, Manchester University, UK.