SEX, BOMBS & BURGERS

Sex, Bombs and Burgers is officially out in the United Kingdom today, and I'm off to talk it up. I'm arriving in London tomorrow, spending some time with friends and venturing outside of London to do some sight-seeing. I'll be posting as usual, so check back as always. Here's a short but mostly positive review of my book in The Guardian and remember, if you're in the Bristol area, you can come see me talk about the book at the Festival of Ideas on Nov. 8.

I thought it might be interesting to crunch some numbers in advance of my UK trip, insofar as they relate to war, porn and fast food. First up, let's look at its military. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the UK is the world's fourth biggest military spender, accounting for about 3.8% of the $1.5 trillion spent globally in 2009 (the U.S. dwarfs all others with 46.5% of the total).

The UK has 62 million people, or less than 1% of the world's population. Does that mean its military spending is disproportionate? Not exactly, and part of the reason why is actually a main theme of my book. Developed nations that consider themselves to be innovators and technologically advanced tend to spend more on their militaries because of all the non-war-related benefits that come from doing so. Even still, the UK's spending - 2.5% of gross domestic product - is actually below the world average of 2.7%. (The world's biggest military spender per capita appears to be Eritrea, which blew more than 20% of its 2008 GDP on war.)

Let's turn to porn. Obviously, the numbers here are not quite as concrete, but the best estimates place the UK as the sixth biggest porn revenue generator, with $1.9 billion made in 2006. That's behind leader China (where porn is technically banned) at $27 billion, South Korea at $25 billion, Japan at $19 billion, U.S. at $13 billion and Australia at $2 billion. Per capita, though, the UK does better - that spending works out to $31.84 per person per year, which is well below the $526 average in South Korea (they love their porn!). The UK average is similar to Canada's, $30.21, and a decent amount below the U.S. average of $44.67.

Finally, there's fast food. The numbers are a little dated but this area is perhaps the least likely of the three to see big fluctuations over a short period of time, so we can assume they're still a good snapshot. The UK spent about $12.1 billion on fast food in 2004, accounting for 5.3% of the world's total. (Nobody came even remotely close to the U.S., which spent $148.6 billion or almost 65% of the global total.) On a per capita basis, the UK's spending places it fourth overall, averaging about $199 per person per year.

So there you have it - there are various ways to measure it, but you wouldn't be too wrong by saying the UK is the world's fourth biggest spender on war and fast food, and the sixth biggest on porn. Perhaps its position in porn would be higher if it wasn't for all those topless girls in the daily newspaper?