2017 was exceptionally high year, 2018-2019 was $0.8 but okay let's assume you're correct... What exactly has US done that is allowing it to grow 2.4 times 5 years ago?
United States registered GDP growth of 2.9% for the of 2018, which is
entirely reasonable.
I think you missed my point. Yes, income is really high in the US. A truck driver in the US earns $50K a year, but in China the same truck driver earns $10K a year, despite both of them doing the same job. So one contributes $50K to GDP while the other only $10K. See my point?
Same reason why fast food workers in United States earn more than Chinese workers, despite arguably being worse workers. Local legislation and a higher cost of living.
I never said it doesn't have a strong economy. There is no doubt that the US has created an incredibly strong economy with an unbelievable innovation capacity and it will continue to be an economic and tech superpower because of its strong fundamentals. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Tesla, Intel, etc. are not going anywhere, and hence US will retain immense economic and tech advantages in the foreseeable future.
Your general tone makes me think you misunderstand me. I'm much more bullish on US than pretty much everyone on this forum (including probably you). That being said, this doesn't take away from my point - that US nominal GDP is overvalued.
GDP isn't a stock. It's neither over-valued nor under-valued. It just is, but if you want a more apples-to-apples comparison, just look at PPP, where China has long surpassed the US economy.
I don't believe the US will decline. Its ability to attract talent, its entrepreneurial culture and innovation ecosystem is simply too great. However I do believe US relative importance will decline because much of the rest of the world is developing and rising which inevitably will lead to the decline in importance of all developed countries including US.
United States is putting itself into a risky position by continuing to recklessly increase its budget deficit, at a time where interest rates are rising. In addition to that, United States is "borrowing" to build weapons of war, to continue supporting systems that are clearly unsustainable, and by refusing to make serious political and economic investments into its economic fundamentals.
There is a clear need for affordable higher education and a K-12 reform. Nothing substantial is being done here.
There is a clear need for healthcare reform. Nothing substantial is being done here.
There is a clear need for massive infrastructure investment.
Something was done here, but not nearly enough.
There is a clear need for social security reform. Nothing substantial is being done here.
There is a clear need for a nation-wide housing policy. Nothing substantial is being done here.
There is a clear need for
more free trade. United States is putting up more trade barriers instead.
My issues with the people on this forum when it comes to this topic. Is that they use platitudes and anecdotes to form their opinion on the US economy rather than facts.
It is clear and obvious that United States is a very strong economy with strong fundamentals, but nevertheless serious issues that have potential to become crippling. Instead of investing its time and money into solving these issues (which aren't serious yet), United States is running a massive budget deficit in a desperate bid to wage an economic war against China, that it will lose, and to build a military to fight for Hegemony, which it will also lose.
For a final point, while I pointed out the most pressing issues which people in this thread gleefully point out, what these detractors miss, is that these issues
are not yet serious.
Most of the US workforce still has access to easy loans and a large proportion of the population is college educated. US companies can also import highly-educated workers from other countries. So no, education is not a serious problem yet.
Most of the US workforce is still relatively healthy and the healthcare sector is continuing to operate well (while extracting massive profits from the workforce), so this issue is also not serious yet. There is no critical shortage of healthcare workers or healthcare supplies. But this problem will eventually become serious.
Most of US infrastructure still works and continues to operate well, but it is aging. Without serious investment, a lot of US infrastructure will either be outdated or collapsed. But again, we're not there yet so its not a serious problem yet.
There is a major issue with social security. It's a ticking time bomb. Social Security is still paying for itself, but without changes to this program, it will eventually become completely unaffordable, but it's not a crippling problem yet.
There is a huge issue with affordable housing, but no, there are no "homeless hordes" despite what you see on the news.
Very generously I'll assume that the homeless population is double the "official amount" at 1,000,000 people. That's 0.33% of the US population. So no, there is no housing "crisis" yet. Not to mention that many, many homeless don't stay homeless. They get back on their feet, and the chronically homeless aren't homeless because it's "too hard". They're homeless because they're drug addicts or mentally ill or both or worse. But yes, there is an issue with housing and it is becoming more and more unaffordable. In 20 years it'll become a major, major issue.
This is what commentators in this thread don't understand. Things are great in United States today, relative to the vast majority of countries out there, but it has a potential to become a lot worse very quickly if US leadership doesn't get its act together. But that's just it. It's potentially bad. It's not bad yet. No, people aren't getting evicted left and right. People aren't homeless. The vast majority of the US population is paying their bills, buying games, driving cars, and managing to live just fine.
Tired of hearing the same ridiculous fairy tales on this thread.
You are absolutely right in the relative sense. US is a strong economy with strong fundamentals if you compare it with a country like Egypt or Pakistan. However if you compare it with any peer industrialized power, then US really doesn't stand out much aside from its sheer size. Hence why it relies on geopolitical and political manipulation to maintain its hegemony. US is lucky it is large enough to dwarf over every other industrialized nation (save one), and could simply overpower them with its bulk.
Well there is no peer except China and I've not hidden my admiration for China's exceptional rise. I don't have a problem with China. I have a problem with hearing ridiculous hyperbolic statements in regards to the US economy, and the quality of life for the average American.
I live in America and I've been to many other countries. I've seen how people live. There are very, very few places where life is easier than in United States.
