Conclusions
Based on what we have observed over the course of this presentation, it is striking that most countries saw their economies shrink in terms of GDP from 2013 to 2017. When accounting for military, educational, and healthcare spending, national economic growth or decline alone cannot sufficiently explain movements within any of the sectors over time. In fact, a country may shift its spending from one sector to another in light of surrounding economic conditions, at home and abroad. Discretionary spending especially may decline amid recession, inclining a country to focus on mandatory funds.
Alongside this, a country's level of spending within a sector does not necessarily correlate with the share of GDP toward that sector. This observation emphasizes how the size of a country's economy can affect how much it can afford to transfer funds from one sector to another. Additionally, it further delineates the distinction between absolute and relative spending. The latter figure may more accurately describe spending shifts over time by accounting for a national economy's size on a proportionate scale. This is especially the case with regard to healthcare spending. As we saw earlier, the US spent more in absolute terms than the other countries on healthcare each year, and by extension reported the greatest such shift between 2013 and 2017. It also posted the greatest mean share of GDP toward healthcare over our timespan. Yet, China almost doubled the US's figure in terms of its relative shift in healthcare spending. This happened despite the fact that the US spent more than five times the amount as China on healthcare each year.
Similar disparities occurred with respect to military spending. While the US spent more on its military absolutely than the other countries each year, its funds actually declined from 2013 to 2015. Furthermore, it reported the greatest absolute decline from 2013 to 2017, despite maintaining the second-highest mean share of GDP. Regarding the latter observation, Russia posted the greatest mean share of GDP toward its military. However, partly on account of the fact that its economy shrank the most out of the countries included in this presentation, its relative military spending dropped the most from 2013 to 2017. China in contrast reported the greatest increases under both figures. Notably, it was one of only three countries, alongside Australia and South Korea, to augment its defense budget over time.
When comparing the countries from an educational perspective, per capita spending in that sector possessed a stronger correlation with GDP per capita than the other sectors. The fact it was so closely related with GDP per capita is quite significant when considering the long-term ramifications this can present for innovation and labor advancement. Economic growth in the educational sector is especially beneficial for families as they can more easily access any necessary resources that help them advance more easily within the labor force, using the skills acquired through schooling. Although a rise in educational spending per capita may present wider opportunities within the labor market, we should not automatically assume this will improve academic performance. According to the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), six countries outperformed the US on their average cumulative score of reading, mathematics, and science. This occurred despite the US being the biggest annual spender on education for each year, as well as spending the most on education per capita in 2016 and 2017. Hence, transfering funds toward certain specialties or improving individual school performance may be more economically beneficial for families than raising spending all across the board.
This project was a tremendous first opportunity to get accustomed with Google API's visualization tools, and gain new insights about the G20's trends in military, educational, and healthcare spending from 2013 to 2017. As mentioned earlier, references that were instrumental toward the completion of this project are listed under its corresponding tab in the menu bar.