QE is winding down in the government. In the private sector, the U.S. is under-going massive economic revolutions such as: Oilfield fracking, Hyper-farming, Web 3.0, Cloud Computing/storage, Big Data, Entertainment Data Streaming (e.g. HBO Go and Netflix), the private Space Race (e.g. Rutan’s Virgin Galactic and Musk’s SpaceX), Electric cars (e.g. Tesla), 3D printing, DNA Programming for medicine, Genetically Modified (GM) seeds, and Crowd-funding.
I do not share your opinion that technology, especially as it relates to economy. is all that a nation is made of. There are many other factors: Political stability, government type, homogeneity, absence or presence of war, personal freedoms, invasion and immigration, presence or absence of morals, and a faith in the currency, to name just a few.
Rome is a great example of a country that had a vast technological edge. They adapted or invented the following: The aqueduct, the connecting-rod sawmill, the screw press, the construction crane, dams, indoor plumbing, the five-pulley-crane, the ballista mounted on the cart, their platoon tactics... the list goes on.
Yet, they collapsed. Theories abound as to why, but several prominent ones are the debasing of their currency, the introduction of too many immigrants to hold societal cohesion, and others too numerous to list here.
In a much shorter time frame, Germany collapsed under Hitler. They, Germany, were the world leaders in technology, sciences, and culture. Their leaders and their policies doomed them, however.
A nation is far more than a simple economy and the technologies that contribute to it. I postulate we are likely to see something akin to a collapse for reasons that barely touch technology and economy at all.
To this point: Now, why do I think that you are going to go into Denial and Anger and the other stages of grief based on the good news that I point out above? ...because I think that the people who are depressed about the current economic revolutions are those who are under-employed. No one wants to blame their self for making too little money. It’s always easier to blame the government or a “bad economy.” Likewise, people who are under-employed think that everything costs too much. Cars are too expensive and groceries “keep going up in price.”
Dude.
You of all people should know that I am (conservatively) in the top 20% of wage earners in the country -- maybe higher.
I am certainly not gnashing my teeth and cursing others for their good fortune. I am definitely not under-employed, even in this sickly economy.
I don't know why you'd include me in this broad categorization.
No question that there are a number of non-economic factors that shape nations' prosperity. The overall stupidity of the American public, the dumbing-down of the average voter and his willingness to accept total nonsense ("global warming," "1 percenters") suggest exactly the kinds of conditions that allow a dictator to come in and just take over.
That said, there is no doubt that on some levels we are on the cusp of massive technological upheavals---especially in energy---that can offer promise beyond anything we've ever known.
A student today asked when Social Security would get so bad that they fix it, and my answer was, it will collapse first. No one will dare do the difficult thing (whatever solutions you propose) because it would hurt them too bad politically.