Independent estimates put overseas base costs tenfold above the Pentagon’s figure

Evidence

At the same time, however, the Pentagon’s official figure contrasts sharply with the only other recent estimate available. In 2009, the economist Anita Dancs estimated total spending on bases and troops abroad at 250 billion—a more than tenfold difference. Part of the discrepancy stems from Dancs's including war spending in her total, whereas at Congress's direction, the OCS doesn't include the billions spent on the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere around the globe. But even without war spending, her figure comes to around 140 billion—still almost $120 billion more than the Pentagon suggests. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 605

Categorization

• QUESTION: A tenfold discrepancy between the Pentagon’s official number and an economist’s estimate begs investigation into which line items constitute the gap.
• SEED: Essay angle: the 22.7B vs 250B gap as a case study in how the ‘base nation’ hides its true economic footprint.