>> "the American system for unleashing that potential – a system that has worked wonders for over two centuries despite frequent interruptions for recessions an

>> "the American system for unleashing that potential – a system that has worked wonders for over two centuries despite frequent interruptions for recessions and even a Civil War – remains alive and effective" as feel-goody as that might sound to patriotic american ears, you also have to take into account that america pretty much had the playing field (much) to itself for a long time. there was competition of different systems and it turns out the market-based system is best. good. now that everybody has learnt that and is busy implementing that system (more or less gradually), there is no obvious reason why america should remain special. turns out human potential is great everywhere, and in the brief period after world war 2, i'd say germany, japan, korea, etc. have done a mighty good job catching up and even surpassing the us in many areas, measured by social as well as industrial metrics. now comes china et al. if i was american, i wouldn't take anything for granted. you guys were lucky to live in the winning system, other than that, there is nothing special about you.