According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute 2020 Fact Sheet (for 2019) SIPRI Military Expenditure Database the world spends $2 trillion per year on defense. That's a lot of money. Of course, much of that goes to logistics, personnel, energy, etc. However, a significant portion is used to buy weapons and equipment.

With a new cold-war emerging between China and the United States, investment in defense should at least maintain its current share of overall budgets. Beyond rising tensions, defense spending is intertwined with economic dominance. US dollar hegemony requires a strong military. For the United States, military spending is the expense of the exorbitant privilege that comes from having the world's reserve currency. Perhaps someday another currency takes its place, but not without the emergence of a better alternative. Today, there is none. Indeed, this is one of the reasons the US seeks to contain the rise of China's geopolitical power.

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