[HitmanLV]

I agree that a protracted power loss wouldn't destroy the USA. It would be a rough 1 or 2 days or so, but the USA would not 'collapse' nor would our economy come tumbling down if we were without power for 36 hours.

[Poohbah]

It would be a harsh blow; we really do depend on just-in-time inventory management for a large part of our economy's success.

One thing is for sure: if a cyberattack took down the power grid for a couple days, and we found out a nation-state was behind it, we would go nuclear.

Maybe what we ought to do every few years is pick the most annoying country out there and pound the stuffing out of it, just so the rest of the world understands not to mess with Daddy.