Economically speaking, at the start of WWII, we weren't at the point where we could fight WWII either. Wars that big change things.
D&D and the rising pandemic
- Thread starter GreyLord
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Economically speaking, at the start of WWII, we weren't at the point where we could fight WWII either. Wars that big change things.
Except the life we've come accustomed to is no longer supportable without international trade. For example, all the electronics that run our current world are dependent on raw materials we don't have much of on US soil.
Coffee. Imagine asking the US to go without coffee!
Eltab
Lord of the Hidden Layer
I've done that all my life; coffee just doesn't taste good to me.
Americans used to drink tea like ... well like Englishmen ... until the early 1770s. Then a nasty disagreement sprang up and tea consumption dropped way off.
I imagine a coffee-supplying nation today trying to use coffee imports as an arm-twister on Americans will just make their product unpopular, not encourage the change they were expecting.
Zardnaar
Legend
Not strictly true. UK and French armaments orders had revived US production. When France was defeated the US government took over the orders and was providing lend lease before they entered the war.
After that it mostly was just paying for stuff. Except synthetic rubber that was a major new development.
The infrastructure was there, they did build some new stuff. That's all gone now the USA can't match WW2 Aluminum iirc even if they came up with the money.
They paid Boeing and Ford to produce stuff. They can't build an F22 that fast anymore or even the F35.
A tank cost the equivalent of a few hundred thousand dollars, a bomber a couple of million.
Back then the biggest oil producer was also the US. Might still be but proportionally speaking it was bigger.
Pre Covid US debt was over 100% of GDP, UK was also high. I'll have to find the exact figures but the debt load isn't that far off the war years.
UK finished paying off the war in 2006 iirc.
The US deficit spending is a lot more limited. NZ went into it with debt of 30% and our government can sustain things for 5-10 years and proportionally be in the spot the US was in March.
Unemployment is about half the US, projected to peak around 9%. Right now US is around 13% iirc.
Basically what they can do is a lot more restrained than say 2008.
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Nor me, but the rest of the world seems to run on Starbucks and Dunkin'.
Yeah, but those habits are 250 years gone now. And, neither here nor there, because we dont' grow tea in the US either. So, we'd have to quickly develop a taste for Yaupon, the only known pant native to North America that produces caffeine...
Hussar
Legend
@Zardnaar - the point you seem to forget is that, unlike pre-WWII, the US outspends the entire planet in their military. By a considerable margin. All without raising taxes or any sort of austerity program.
They don't need WWII levels of production because they already far outstrip WWII levels of production.
They don't need WWII levels of production because they already far outstrip WWII levels of production.
Zardnaar
Legend
True it's more of a example of USA being worse off.
The depression and war years are the only examples we really have with reliable data to compare with.
Japan is 'shocked' and furious at the US after a major coronavirus outbreak at 2 Marine bases in Okinawa — and says the US is not taking the virus seriously
"We now have strong doubts that the US military has taken adequate disease prevention measures," Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki said.
www.businessinsider.com
Apparently, this is us now.
Zardnaar
Legend
The one I read earlier in the day.
time.com
Japan Governor Demands Increased COVID-19 Prevention Measures After 61 U.S. Marines Infected on Okinawa
The disclosure of the exact figures came only after Okinawa island's repeated requests to the U.S. military
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