Chicken or the egg right? Pre WWII we were hit with a massive depression like everyone else. As the war effort ramped up and the rest of the industrialized worl

Chicken or the egg right? Pre WWII we were hit with a massive depression like everyone else. As the war effort ramped up and the rest of the industrialized world was taking it on the chin we conveniently got to reap the economic benefits of having a totally mobilized workforce, without, y'know, all our manufacturing hubs getting Dresden'd. Surprise suprise, we win the war and don't incur heavy infrastructure damage AND get the benefit of a suddenly energized economy, so we do what we do and keep the party going. Stick our noses in Korea, get in a massive arms race with the Soviet Union, fight a couple proxy wars with the Soviets. Well turns out the Soviets are light weights and can't hold their liquor and bow out early. Now we're the only ones with a ginormous army and can subsequently print our own money. We got away with it because everyone that we kept close were highly incentivized not to call us on it, on account of the soviet's nasty habit of rollin up to a place and makin it the quality of life equivalent of an Andy Dick comedy special.