Wars and the Decline of U.S. Dominance

America has been at the top of the economic game since WWII. However, in modern times it has also received some new threats from China and the European Union. Once globalization set in the power of the U.S. is being disseminated around the world. Others can now compete and beat America at its own game.

Prior to WWII the United States was in a depression and people were suffering. Soup lines stretched around the block and few maintained appropriate employment. The economy was slow the government was short of funds. President Franklin Roosevelt offered the new deal to help people and WWII forced the economy forward.

After WWII the Gross National Product doubled over just a decade. Europe was in shambles and needed American products. American manufacturers produced everything from tools to toilet paper. There were no other major manufacturers untouched by war and the U.S. was there to help out and prosper.

The Employment Act of 1946 stated as government policy "to promote maximum employment, production, and purchasing power." With the government running the economy just about everyone who wanted to be employed was. The country was running at maximum production. At no other time in history has a government been able to claim such successes.

Things didn't stay the same forever. In the next major war played out Vietnam the American economy again stagnated. All of the hard work done after WWII was lost during the Baby Boomer generation. Unemployment rose, inflation went out of control and President Jimmy Carter enacted more government controls to keep the country afloat.

As before the economy recovered and it was business as usual. The difference between the wars before and that being seen both during and after the Gulf Wars is that the economic playing field has changed. Telecommunications, technology, manufacturing secrets and logistics have developed to such a point that they no longer can be contained within the U.S. Thus the economy may recover but America's era of dominance has ended.