zlacker

>>anigbr+(OP)
As a US taxpayer I don’t particularly like this. We rely on being the world’s reserve currency, and many things get more expensive, e.g., serving government debt. In 2000-2001 we were able to effectively bully three countries that were talking about moving away from the US dollar, but I am not sure if that works now.

I have a lot of personal theories how my country can best cope with future geopolitical adjustments. If I were in charge, the first thing I would do would be to close most foreign military bases. We can have the strongest military in the world and have them largely based in the US. I think the US Navy continues to be a good investment, but I would cut back a small amount on intel and other military branches.

>>mark_l+R3
this has very little impact on the strength of the dollar. if anything, it's a better signal of Russia's economic weakness (in the face of sanctions) than a power shift in favor of the Yuan.

forgoing foreign bases and limiting the US military presence to domestic only is such a ludicrous take that I'm willing to bet would have you laughed out of any room discussing defense.

>>throwa+Eb
Well, organizations making large profits would like to laugh me out of the room. Next to tech stocks, ‘defense’ stocks are my second largest basket of stocks. I don’t expect that these companies will stop making large profits for the near future, but I keep an eye on my investments.

I find it interesting, in general, in this thread, that so many people dismiss what on the surface is a contrarian view (i.e., drastically reduce our overseas military presence), without more open debate.

Maybe my idea is wrong, but I feel it is worth a conversation.

>>mark_l+Gf
> drastically reduce our overseas military presence

for what? a smaller deficit? it's unclear whether reducing the size of the defense industry helps the US economy, so maybe you get a smaller deficit but you also raise unemployment by a couple % and lower economic growth by a % or so over the next 25 years

conversely, it's pretty clear this does hurt its current hegemonic position. that's a gamble not many are willing to take so carelessly

I say this as a non-American, by the way