[shoo]

> It's also questionable whether the US military efficiency over opponents scales with budget over opponents

That's a good point. Apparently the US military funding accounts for 36 percent of global military funding, with 3x as much funding as the country with the second highest spend, China.

I have no idea if the US military is particularly efficient. Even if it was half as efficient as competitors, the US military could still have an advantage due to the sheer volume of resources dedicated.

[dralley]

A certain percentage of that is simply cost of living - China can pay their soldiers and military industrial researchers a Chinese wage while the US has to pay US wages all the way down the supply chain.

Still incredibly inefficient, to be sure.

[madeuptempacct]

Sure, it's undoubtedly #1 overall.