The share of gdp is relevant as a proxy for competition. A monopoly is what made the surplus charging the American dream. That America is losing that monopoly a

The share of gdp is relevant as a proxy for competition. A monopoly is what made the surplus charging the American dream. That America is losing that monopoly as reprented by its share of global gdp means: outsourcing, foreign investment elsewhere, competitive domestic prices as free trade and increasing competition abroad means lower domestic wages and lower profits. The America of today is increasingly being competed with on all fronts, meaning the castles in the sky of high paying jobs + cheap high quality goods + affordable living accommodations which were once possible in the monopoly America are increasingly fading as America loses those surpluses. In short: once we were the place where all wealth flocked and flowed, and like a bloated VC startup, it meant high wages, amazing benefits, affordable housing on tap, and so on. But now the market is more competitive, and if we want to compete those insane benefits are being cut away. The American Dream is a reference to those unsustainably good times during the rarefied airs of global monopoly. Now reality returns and we think things are collapsing.