The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
Is China’s economy broken?
English Summary
Experts argue that China's economic slowdown is structural, not merely cyclical, as the nation struggles to transition away from its unsustainable, investment-led growth model. The core challenge is that the state's financial and fiscal tools are impaired, having already facilitated massive credit expansion and accumulating bad debt from the property sector. This forces the government into a difficult dilemma: managing decline by extending credit to failing state-owned enterprises while simultaneously facing weak consumer demand and deflationary pressures. Consequently, the economy is entering a period of mandated, slower growth as Beijing attempts to write down its capital stock and resolve systemic debt issues.
中文摘要
專家指出，中國的經濟放緩是結構性問題，而非單純的週期性衰退，因為國家正努力擺脫其不可持續的、依賴投資驅動的增長模式。核心挑戰在於，國家層面的財政和金融工具已經受限，此前已透過大規模信貸擴張，並累積了來自房地產部門的不良債務。這使得政府面臨一個艱難的兩難困境：一方面必須透過向陷入困境的國有企業提供信貸來管理經濟衰退；另一方面，又必須應對疲軟的消費需求和通貨緊縮壓力。因此，隨著北京試圖進行資本庫存的減記和解決系統性債務問題，經濟正進入一個必須放緩的增長階段。
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