April 24, 2017
The U.S. isn’t perfect – no country is. We have our issues at home and abroad. That said, some would have you think we’re in decline. But for all its imperfections, our country continues to dominate the global economy by a wide margin.
Exhibit A is the fact that the U.S. accounted for 24.3 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015, according to The World Bank. We also accounted for a quarter of all the production in the world.
China is second at roughly 15 percent. And when you think about the demographic differences – China has 1 billion more people, for instance – our relative economic output is incredible.

Keep all that in mind when you hear about our decline. Even if the European Union was one country, it would still trail the U.S. in GDP by several percentage points.
The western world is dominant economically and shows no signs of letting up. We hear about China quite a bit. But production per person over there is very concentrated because two-thirds of the country is poor family farms in the rural countryside.
To me, the idea that the U.S. is falling behind is unfounded. Even with the rest of the world increasing output to previously unfathomable levels, we still maintain a large lead.
No matter what’s being said about us, know that global economics tell a story of American dominance, which is the ultimate feel-good story.