I don't disagree with your assessment of the American project as defined being wrong headed by the author, but the article lists the origins of the idea going t

I don't disagree with your assessment of the American project as defined being wrong headed by the author, but the article lists the origins of the idea going to many other countries switchover and failing so it's not just America. However, I think Piketty's analysis of the same problem better in Capital and Ideology. i.e. free markets and trade by themselves to not be the end all solution, the lack of transparency that can lead even democracies to make wrong decisions because they do not have visibility to make correct decisions, and constitutionally protected rights of acquired capital/property over people means inertia in current systems make it extremely difficult to do the right thing.