Is the US running an empire?

[ganulv]

Again I have to wonder... where exactly does the US have economic influence and control, and if we have such influence and control, how come we aren't making money?

It’s too easy to make every Indian’s favorite joke here.

It’s harder to who figure out who the <we> is. The shareholders of Dell, Inc.? Me when I shop at Wal-Mart?

I take your point regarding the fact that the U.S. only seems to have so much direct control over things economic. It’s not like Commodore Perry is going to show up in Tianjin. But there is influence for sure. What would China’s economy look like if the U.S. Government decided the trade deficit needed to be “fixed” at the expense of imports from China? And why does the CPC get testy about devaluation of the dollar?