I aree that the USA has great assets (although many have been sold to foreign investors) but there is a disturbing trend of losing our lead in technology. As an example: in the 1970s, almost al ACM journal articles were written by US authors. Pick up a recent journal and you will notice that this has changed a lot.

The quotes by Paul Craig Roberts (3 years old) are probably right on - I often read his articles and he seems knowledgeable and trustworthy. Many kids in junior high in China now get to take calculus - but not here in the USA. India has invested its resources for several decades in improving its educational system, and they are harvesting the benefits.

I think (I hope!) that our (and the UK's) downward side in economic health will take a long time, but it is probably a forgone conclusion given our huge military expenditures and debt at the consumer and government levels. So, I don't expect us to fall off of an economic cliff, but I do expect steadily worsening conditions over the next few decades for the poor and diminishing middle class.