Publication

This paper discusses the way Australia uses its GDP to measure and define its defense spending. The authors argue that while this measure has some uses, it can also be misleading, such as when attempting to make comparisons across global regions and periods of time. Consequently, the authors suggest that Australia should abandon its use of GDP to measure defense spending and instead adopt a method that examines the interests of the nation, the environment it finds itself in, and the nation’s financial capacity before allocating funds as necessary.