not a financial ability to afford new debt (or, on established history, willingness to asssum more).
US has been monetising its debt heavily during the covid era, with now about a fifth of US debt having been purchased with nonexisting money, that is, the federal reserve created the money for that purpose. US spends about double its GDP % of defense, yet the Navy is still worried Chinese military shipbuilding is outpacing the US. The only consolation is China doesn't have that many carriers or nuclear submarines, but why would they need them ? They most likely have a weapon that denies the US use of its carriers within ~3000 km of China.
If the argument is that the US is in decline because it will have to pare back overseas efforts, that does not even imply a relative decline if it's still orders of magnitude more than what China engages in.
Chinese will likely never be stupid enough to repeat American mistakes in belligerence, or crap up 3/4 of the world with their bases. They seem strictly strategically minded and their bases are almost exclusively found around important east hemisphere naval trade routes.
Nor is the US military recruitment issue a particularly relevant comparison when (a) China is a conscription model,
Only technically. It's a volunteer force in practice, so no different from the US.
But if you want to pick one category- say alcohol- then you might have a like-to-like comparison, in which Russia had over 50,000 alcohol-related deaths in 2020 compared to the US which reported 52,000... despite Russia having less than half the total population.
I doubt by this time Russia has a higher per capita mortality from drugs legal and illegal than the US on these metrics, even allowing for difference in what counts.
US is completely anomalous, with its overdose deaths being 20-25x higher per capita than in the EU thanks mostly to the fentanyl.
US has been monetising its debt heavily during the covid era, with now about a fifth of US debt having been purchased with nonexisting money, that is, the federal reserve created the money for that purpose. US spends about double its GDP % of defense, yet the Navy is still worried Chinese military shipbuilding is outpacing the US. The only consolation is China doesn't have that many carriers or nuclear submarines, but why would they need them ? They most likely have a weapon that denies the US use of its carriers within ~3000 km of China.
This is indeed a new argument, but it is also still not the argument you started with. The American debates about default remain congressional politics, not the ability to service.
Chinese will likely never be stupid enough to repeat American mistakes in belligerence, or crap up 3/4 of the world with their bases. They seem strictly strategically minded and their bases are almost exclusively found around important east hemisphere naval trade routes.
Then congratulations- the US recruitment issues, by forcing an abandonment of unproductive bases, will improve their effeciency and effectiveness rather than expending manpower and resources on 'crap' bases.
This is an improvement of the US position, not a weakneing.
Nor is the US military recruitment issue a particularly relevant comparison when (a) China is a conscription model,
Only technically. It's a volunteer force in practice, so no different from the US.
Not quite.
The US had at least 100,000 death due to non-alcohol drug overdoses in 2021, up 29% from the year before.
I doubt by this time Russia has a higher per capita mortality from drugs legal and illegal than the US on these metrics, even allowing for difference in what counts.
US is completely anomalous, with its overdose deaths being 20-25x higher per capita than in the EU thanks mostly to the fentanyl.
And yet your argument wasn't a comparison to the EU, or even relative drug dose deaths compared to Russia which you have not explored in like-to-like- it was a comparison to the Russian war in Ukraine, which remains magnitudes off.
Then congratulations- the US recruitment issues, by forcing an abandonment of unproductive bases, will improve their effeciency and effectiveness rather than expending manpower and resources on 'crap' bases.
Not going to happen unless US is defeated in a major war and loses influence.
According to the Ukraine government, they've only lost cca 000 dead last year or so. That means per capita, casualties of the Russian war against Ukraine are lower
Ukraine, which remains magnitudes off.
Not really. According to UA government, their dead last year were only cca 35000 or so. US is about 8x larger, so per capita losses to illegal drugs in the US are only 2x lower or so..
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Notes -
US has been monetising its debt heavily during the covid era, with now about a fifth of US debt having been purchased with nonexisting money, that is, the federal reserve created the money for that purpose. US spends about double its GDP % of defense, yet the Navy is still worried Chinese military shipbuilding is outpacing the US. The only consolation is China doesn't have that many carriers or nuclear submarines, but why would they need them ? They most likely have a weapon that denies the US use of its carriers within ~3000 km of China.
Chinese will likely never be stupid enough to repeat American mistakes in belligerence, or crap up 3/4 of the world with their bases. They seem strictly strategically minded and their bases are almost exclusively found around important east hemisphere naval trade routes.
Only technically. It's a volunteer force in practice, so no different from the US.
The US had at least 100,000 death due to non-alcohol drug overdoses in 2021, up 29% from the year before.
According to CDC there were 140k alcohol related deaths..
I doubt by this time Russia has a higher per capita mortality from drugs legal and illegal than the US on these metrics, even allowing for difference in what counts.
US is completely anomalous, with its overdose deaths being 20-25x higher per capita than in the EU thanks mostly to the fentanyl.
This is indeed a new argument, but it is also still not the argument you started with. The American debates about default remain congressional politics, not the ability to service.
Then congratulations- the US recruitment issues, by forcing an abandonment of unproductive bases, will improve their effeciency and effectiveness rather than expending manpower and resources on 'crap' bases.
This is an improvement of the US position, not a weakneing.
Not quite.
And yet your argument wasn't a comparison to the EU, or even relative drug dose deaths compared to Russia which you have not explored in like-to-like- it was a comparison to the Russian war in Ukraine, which remains magnitudes off.
Not going to happen unless US is defeated in a major war and loses influence.
According to the Ukraine government, they've only lost cca 000 dead last year or so. That means per capita, casualties of the Russian war against Ukraine are lower
Not really. According to UA government, their dead last year were only cca 35000 or so. US is about 8x larger, so per capita losses to illegal drugs in the US are only 2x lower or so..
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