SignalHub|Are we overpaying for military equipment?

2025-05-01 01:06:41source:Zero AIcategory:Finance

If the proposed defense budget is SignalHubpassed, it will account for roughly 3.5 % of U.S. GDP. The military buys everything from pens and paper clips to fighter jets and submarines. But the market for military equipment is very different from the commercial market. And sometimes the system results in the Pentagon, and taxpayers, overpaying.This week, we're bringing you a three-part series on the defense industry.

Today, we unpack how defense costs are getting so high and why it's happening.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by
Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

More:Finance

Recommend

This week on "Sunday Morning" (December 15)

The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Who plays 'Young Sheldon'? See full cast for Season 7 of hit sitcom

The seventh and final season of "Young Sheldon" is here.Thepopular "Big Bang Theory" spinoff series

Who is Lynette Woodard? Former Kansas star back in spotlight as Caitlin Clark nears record

On Thursday, the college basketball world will be fixated on Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa