In 2023, all 9 of the world's nuclear-armed nations (incl Israel) increased nuclear weapons spending at a rate of $250 million/day. The largest rise was by the U.S. at 18% incr over 2022 to $51.5 billion--that's $98,000/minute, more than the other 8 countries combined.
Global hunger could be eradicated by 2030 for less than what these countries will spend on nukes. Homelessness, drug rehab, daycare for children of working parents could all be resolved with this kind of money. Of course, if they use the nukes (which is becoming increasingly likely with all the bellicose talk and provocative actions around Ukraine, Iran, China, and N. Korea), hunger, housing, childcare, education, will be the least of our concerns.
Who profits most directly from this weapons build-up? In this order:
Honeywell
Northrop Grumman
BAE
Airbus
Boeing (1 reason why they put so little effort into making their passenger jets safe)
@MikeDunnAuthor what is an appropriate and sustainable number of nuclear weapons to build and maintain for a world superpower, the number is not zero, nukes require expensive maintenance and don't last forever. I think that 300 is a nice round number and should be more than enough for a credible deterrent without being an absurd (expensive) number that could only make the rubble bounce. Anyone who isn't deterred by the threat of 100 nukes isn't going to change their mind given 1000 or 10000
@MikeDunnAuthor so what's the expected yearly cost for a few hundred warheads of different kinds that the US uses and when would there be capital expenses for refurbishment as well as the cost of disarming the copious extras? I don't have a good handle on those numbers and they are important to me for context on whether something is more expensive than expected or not. I'm not sure that makes for a good headline though and tends to bore news editors.
@raven667
No, the correct number is exactly 0. And working toward complete worldwide disarmament is absolutely necessary for the survival of the planet. Btw, we actually started moving in that direction under Obama. The bulletin of Atomic scientists even pushed back the doomsday clock for the first time in years. Now, in part because of this increased proliferation of nukes, the doomsday clock is closer to midnight than its ever been.