Popular wisdom rightly distinguishes between lies, damn lies, and (worst of all) statistics. The figures below are in many cases rough approximations. The reader should therefore resist the impression of certainty that numbers inevitably but often spuriously convey. The figures given for the military and state expenditures of Italy, France, and Britain are official or derived from official figures; those for Germany private estimates; national income and Gross National Product totals by their nature consist in part of educated guesses. Differences in internal price structure, international currency complications, different budgetary practices in each of the four nations and the fact that the Italian figures (except national income) are by fiscal rather than calendar year, detract from the rigor of the comparison. Nevertheless, the aggregate figures for the entire 1935–8 period do provide a relative measure of national effort. 1935, the year of Ethiopia and the first year of serious rearmament (or failure to rearm) is a convenient starting point. 1938, the “last normal year,” is the last year for which French national income or German state expenditure are readily available. Aggregate figures for 1935–9 suggest that Italy retained a diminishing edge (in terms of effort, not absolute figures or results) over Britain.