Figure 1: US defense consumption and investment, in bn.Ch2012$ SAAR (blue). NBER defined peak-to-trough recession dates shaded gray. Note 1960-2001 data converted to 2012$ using index. Source: BEA, NBER, and author’s calculations.
Figure 2: US defense consumption and investment, in bn.Ch2012$ SAAR (blue), in bn.$ (tan). NBER defined peak-to-trough recession dates shaded gray. Source: BEA, NBER, and author’s calculations.
Bottom line. It is useful to understand the difference between nominal and real magnitudes.
