[danarmak]

The historical norm is that a successful empire is very profitable. If you have to spend money maintaining it, you're doing it wrong.

In other words: the US is not an empire. It's something that needs a different term.

[TheCoelacanth]

What makes you say that it isn't profitable? The US has the largest GDP of any country by a large margin. Even the entire (pre-Brexit) EU combined is about 10% smaller.

[danarmak]

But how much of the US GDP is attributable to its 'empire', especially considering the opportunity costs of the human and other capital invested in the DoD? I'd love to see the result of a detailed analysis.