I found Noah Smith's piece on this a good read. It's from November 2023 :

"People are realizing that the Arsenal of Democracy is gone" [1]

"It’s important to clarify, by the way, that the phrase “Arsenal of Democracy” doesn’t refer to the size of our existing military, nor does it refer to our military spending. It refers to our military production potential — how much military equipment we could make in the event of a long conventional war against a major power like China."

[1] https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/people-are-realizing-that-the-...