Wow this is a scary point to bring up, but I'm glad someone finally has. I've read numerous articles on this issue but no one has had the nerve to say that the US is a has-been economy. That the days of bountiful growth that followed WWII are unique. The growth curve experienced in that time is not going to be reproducible in the future.<p>The US was the dominant economy in the 20th century only because, I would argue, it was the only one running in the race who wasn't flat on the track with a sprained ankle. Now that Europe is long done rebuilding itself, and Asian countries have found some post-colonial stability, now that everyone is healthy and ready to race, America finds itself falling behind because it was used to running in a race of one. So how competitive were we ever in the past? We'll never know since a race of one really isn't a race, much less does it count as competition...<p>We'll see how this race turns out...