Its not "earl's chart", its CNBC's chart and thats how %s work. Heres an example with simple numbers:

If the USA spent 4 and had a GDP of 10 thats 40%
If Canada spent .2 and had a GDP of 2 thats 10%

North America spent 4.2 out of 12 which is 35%

It shouldn't be confusing if you're familiar with the NATO agreement because that is NATO's standard for member spending

Quote :

"In 2014, all NATO members agreed to increase their defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product by 2024."

[Edited on July 13, 2020 at 9:58 AM. Reason : straight forward metric]

7/13/2020 9:52:33 AM

Quote :

"It's snowing total contributions as a portion of GDP. The US isn't spending more than all of NATO or North America. It just has a high contribution percentage than the NATO average or the North America average."

Gotcha, thanks.

7/13/2020 11:00:08 AM