YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET:

For a start, the US has scale -- a population of 300 million occupying an enormous and fertile land mass. It remains the place immigrants desire more than any other -- so the world's talent flocks there to study, to work, to invest and to try to get rich. Its robust democracy, defence of property rights, rule of law and protection of free speech combine to make it the most civilised large nation on earth. They also make it an incredibly attractive market -- to export to and invest in.  

The demographics of the US are the best of any Western nation, and indeed much better than many in the East. Within 20 years, thanks to immigration and reasonable birth rates, US citizens will on average be much younger than the Chinese. And it will have a dramatically younger population than states like Japan or Germany, which will become gerontocracies. This vigour is essential for any country to maintain its prosperity in the longer run.  [...]

Of course America has serious issues. It needs to reduce government spending to cut its federal deficit. It must reform its healthcare system, which is wasteful and litigious. Its political system is semi-paralysed, and requires more pragmatism and less extremism -- from both sides. It should cut military spending and rein back much of the paranoid madness of Homeland Security. Vested interests and the lobbying machine should play smaller roles in political decision-making. Its tax code is over-complicated and could benefit from simplification. Its schools need more freedom, while its teaching unions should be challenged. And there are plenty of other imperfections.

But no other nation has anything close to America's manifest destiny, resources or abilities. Its energetic citizens, with their can-do attitude, optimistic approach and raw ambition, are unmatched at wealth creation. It invents and pioneers for the whole world, be it new pharmaceuticals, means of communication or 3-D printing. I believe America has regained its confidence, and is once again a tremendous engine of prosperity and progress.    

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