Japan and Germany are so lucky that they got defeated on 2nd world war. They didn't have to spend any money on defense since then. :-)
Japan was economic power even before 2nd world war. India started it late. But has done a pretty decent job.
On an unrelated note, life expectancy calculation is skewed by child mortality rate affecting the calculation. (i.e. Lets say a Man lives to 80 years. But another child dies at birth. Life expectancy would be 40 ((80 0)/2).) So countries where infant mortality is high are have low life expectancy.) On the other hand Life expectancy of 40 year old is practically same whether he is an American or Indian. As a matter of fact life expectancy of 40 year old today is only slightly higher than 40 year old lived in Shakespeare's time. (search on google on "life expectancy calculation skewed by infant mortality rate" for more info on this topic.
