Ulrike FrankeReading this paper which tries to estimate how much more it would cost Germany to NOT support Ukraine, versus the current support.
The authors estimate it’s 10 times the current support.
www.ifw-kiel.de/fileadmin/Da...
(I don’t think one can seriously estimate exact numbers, though I think their overall thinking is probably correct. They estimate spending for refugees,increased deterrence and economic losses.)
But more interesting to me are the numbers on current support for Ukraine, and the following comparisons:
Germany currently spends ~0.1% of its GDP on military support for Ukraine. (Note: this is only about *military* support).
That’s €10.6bn since the beginning of the war. That I knew.
But what I didn’t know is this:
During the 1990/91 Gulf War, Germany spent 0.6% of its GDP supporting the international alliance under US leadership !
So 0.1% now for a war in Europe vs 0.6% the for a war in the Gulf.
And while I am not a big fan of comparing/playing off against each other government spending, these comparisons are quite something.
Namely (full translation in ALT):
The current subsidies for company cars with combustion engines (€13.7 billion) exceed the total German military aid to Ukraine every year since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Andreas Hopf@rikefranke.bsky.social Welch eine Schande! Subventionen für VW, BMW und Mercedes für Dienstwagenprivilegierte sind so überflüssig wie ein Kropf.