The Pentagon vs. Walmart – Foreign Policy - Foreign Policy

What will $768 billion buy the U.S. Defense Department, and how does the Pentagon measure up to private sector companies?

If the Pentagon were a private sector company, would it be bigger than Amazon? Walmart? On this week’s episode of Ones and Tooze, Adam Tooze and Cameron Abadi discuss the Defense Department’s proposed $768 billion budget for 2022 and what that unfathomable number really means.

Also, can $859 billion buy you love? Or at least domestic goodwill? That’s the amount of money Americans will spend on their loved ones and themselves ahead of the Christmas holiday.

About Ones and Tooze: Foreign Policy economics columnist Adam Tooze, a history professor and a popular author, is encyclopedic about basically everything: from the COVID shutdown, to climate change, to pasta sauce. On our new podcast, Tooze and FP deputy editor Cameron Abadi will look at two data points each week that explain the world: one drawn from the week’s headlines and the other from just about anywhere else Tooze takes us. Check out Adam Tooze’s column here. See All Episodes

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