I’m not trying to pick on you specifically but that is precisely the kind of neoliberal thinking that has caused such rot in the US (and more broadly, western)

I’m not trying to pick on you specifically but that is precisely the kind of neoliberal thinking that has caused such rot in the US (and more broadly, western) military. Is spending a lot of money the goal or the measurement here? If your goal is actual effectiveness, then things such as force structure, results in recent conflicts, production rates, etc. are what you’d measure. If your goal is funneling money to capitalists then yeah sure budgets and adherence to “%GDP spending targets” from your vassals is what you’d measure.