IMHO, America's prosperity was mainly due to luck and inertia. We were lucky to have a nation geographically located with so many natural resources. In terms of farm land, minerals, forests, etc. we were one of the richest nations on the planet. We also had the good fortune to inherit the English legal system and Anglo-Saxon culture (that's an enormous advantage). Another huge factor behind our prosperity was not having to fight wars on our own turf (almost as important as everything else combined). We Americans were lucky to have reasonable neighbors, i.e. the Canadians and Mexicans. Near constant war has been Europe's curse (Napoleonic Wars, Franco-Prussian War, World War 1, World War 2, Cold War, etc.). After World War 2, we were the only major industrialized nation left standing with our economic infrastructure undamaged. We ran on the inertia of that situation for a good 20 years before everyone else got caught up.

Unfortunately the gravy train has almost run out of steam. America is mined out (our domestic petroleum is almost gone along with our formerly rich mineral deposits). Europe and Japan have fully recovered from World War 2 and are now fierce economic competitors. China is almost recovered from the Cold War as an economic power. With globalization and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, we must play it real smart to avoid fighting wars on our own turf (a nuke in New York or LA could set us back 50 years).

From here on, being lucky is not good enough. We have to be smart and lucky.

Gary