Where do you think money spent on national defense goes? Into some giant hole in the desert, never to be seen again? It goes into the pockets of military members, defense contractors, and so forth. Who in turn put that money right back into the economy buying everything from gas to groceries, rent, cars, houses. But national defense is a core function of government while entitlement spending is NOT. You failed to mention government's largest expenditure: entitlements like Social Security, Medicare, and welfare. While SS recipients also spend their money in the economy, the fact is we got zero productivity for that spend.