Quality of Life, Balance of Power, and Nuclear Weapons (2016‪)‬

Who has the most nuclear assets in the Middle East? Whose power is waning, whose increasing? Updated annually, these tables of economic, demographic and military indicators establish the pecking order for 236 countries, with estimates of all nuclear arsenals including rarely published data on non-signatory nations.

The author also brings a rational perspective to the public debates on the supposed efficiency of private health insurance versus a “public option,” and the notion that taxation stifles the economy, by offering comparative statistics from different countries in the developed world.

This statistical annual presents fundamental data in three sections: (1) Quality of Life, (2) Balance of Power, and (3) Developed Market Economies since 1960. It is far more complete other statistical publications.

Sections 1 and 2 give statistics for 236 countries, whereas the World Bank and Encyclopedia Britannica provide statistical data for a maximum of about 160 countries. The actual number of countries in World Bank statistical tables is even smaller. The CIA World Factbook gives data for about 230 countries but that data is limited in scope and is imprecise, and other statistical publications are even less satisfactory.

The author has managed to increase the number of countries tallied by writing proprietary software utilizing statistical regressions. Section 2 includes data about nuclear delivery systems and the number of nuclear warheads of all nuclear powers, including estimates of the Israeli nuclear arsenal which usually do not appear in the press.

Official estimates of Russian military expenditures distributed by U.S. and British intelligence communities are methodologically flawed, claiming to show military expenditures of other countries at market exchange rates while they apparently cite Russian military expense figures at purchasing power parities, thus distorting the comparison. Such deceptive practices of the Anglo-American intelligence services are counter-balanced in this title by presenting two different tables, showing military expenditures estimates both at market exchange rates and by purchasing power parities.

Members of the U.S. Congress and others who care about the foundations of power politics in the nuclear age will find facts that speak for themselves in this novel yearbook.