>Okay Doug, tell me how US military superiority makes the American
>mortgage-backed securities market the biggest securities market in the
>world.
You can't consider a single market in isolation - the MBS market depends on the Treasury market, and the Treasury market depends rather significantly on the US government. The major packagers of mortgage securities are government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae; they'd barely exist if it weren't for the USG guarantee. All financial systems have a state at their center, guaranteeing contracts and standing behind the currency. And another reason that our MBS market is so big is that about a quarter of the securities are held by foreigners - would they put that much money into this country if they weren't impressed by the political power and stability of the US? And what makes the government so reliable in all these relationships? The political might of the US, in which the military plays more than a supporting role.
Doug