Some could argue the decline was started by Nixon or even Johnson. Basically, we were living on borrowed time and the misfortune of post-war Europe. It was inevitable the free ride would end. It's only now that the pain is more fierce since the productivity gains all have been squandered for short term gains on Wall Street. Frankly, it's a miracle any of the 1%ers ever make a buck with the short sighted mentalities that many of them have.
It depends in what aspects. Certainly technological progress has not been declining since the '80s. American GDP has more or less been steadily increasing since the '60s. While I too have the feeling that America is on the decline, I have not found any solid evidence to show in what ways America might be declining.
- The US has a higher share of global GDP than it did in 1890 / 1910, when it became the world's largest economy. It has the same share of global GDP as it did in 1980. That's despite a massive rise in GDP from emerging markets, former Soviet nations, etc.
- The US output on science, innovation, invention, is as high as it has ever been. US universities continue to be prodigious sources of output. US R&D expenditures are three times higher today (after adjusting for inflation), than in 1980.
- US manufacturing output is at an all-time high.
- The US still holds 40% to 45% of all global wealth.
- The US has one of the top five or six highest median incomes, and median disposable incomes. The strong dollar, much like during the 1990s, has returned a vast amount of purchasing power to US consumers and boosted incomes substantially versus the rest of the world. GDP just punched in at 3.7% growth, drastically beyond that of Europe, despite the strong dollar. While Europe and Japan have been mired in stagnation, the US has grown its economy substantially since 2007.
- Violent crime has been falling for basically 40 years.
- Reforms have begun around mass incarceration, with the prison population peaking and likely to begin a long-term decline. The war on drugs is ending. Equality on individual rights is far greater than it was 40 or 50 years ago.
- More people are covered by health insurance than at any other time in US history. That will continue to get better with gradual reforms and improvements in the system, including the ACA.
- Life expectancy for the US is at an all-time high, on par with Finland, Denmark and South Korea. Obesity has begun to finally decline, which will improve life expectancy rates further. Death by heart attack and stroke has plunged dramatically over the last 50 years. The US healthcare system is comparable to Canada in terms of quality and outcomes (but not cost) [1]. The US healthcare system is likely to improve a lot as the government bends costs down and broadens access.
- The poverty rate hasn't changed since 1980, and is similar to the late 1960s when the US was near the all-time peak of its economic power due to WW2.
Whoa, whoa this is HN. Here Russia, China, and Iran are amazing powerhouses we absolutely can't criticize in any, way shape or form and the US is the worst nation in history. At least that's what you have to say to get upvotes here. Its pathetic how much anti-US bias gets passed for "fact" here and on Reddit.
