The following table presents the amount spent, in billions of dollars, on national defense by the U.S.

government every other year for the years 1951 through 2017.

The amounts are adjusted for inflation, and represent 2017 dollars.

a. Construct a time-series plot for these data.

b. The plot covers seven decades, from the 1950s through the period 2010–2017. During which of these decades did national defense spending increase, and during which decades did it decrease?

c. The United States fought in the Korean War, which ended in 1953. What effect did the end of the war have on military spending after 1953?

d. During the period 1965–1968, the United States steadily increased the number of troops in Vietnam from 23,000 at the beginning of 1965 to 537,000 at the end of 1968.
Beginning in 1969, the number of Americans in Vietnam was steadily reduced, with the last of them leaving in 1975. How is this reflected in the national defense spending from 1965 to 1975?

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Year Spending Year Spending 1951 503.1 1985 608.3 1953 531.9 1987 592.1 1955 411.9 1989 568.9 1957 438.2 1991 560.1 1959 432.4 1993 474.6 1961 437.6 1995 429.8 1963 470.9 1997 409.8 1965 447.1 1999 416.9 1967 569.3 2001 442.6 1969 572.6 2003 589.0 1971 476.8 2005 633.4 1973 436.9 2007 718.3 1975 404.0 2009 758.4 1977 427.9 2011 726.0 1979 424.4 2013 608.5 1981 475.1 2015 621.2 1983 568.3 2017 650.0