USA #1

Our national esteem has been low these days. Toyota is the biggest car company, Iran war feels like VietNam war, Chinese and Indians are taking our jobs, Canada has better health care, Koreans make the best online games. What happened to the United States of America?

In fact, good old USA is still #1 in many, if not most, meaningful categories.

• We are, by far, the richest country in the world. USA’s GDP is over $13 trillions dollars. It is over 27% of world GDP and larger than the sum of the next 4 largest countries (Japan, Germany, China, and UK).
  Per capita, US citizens made more than their counterparts in those countries too: just a bit more than Germans and Brits, 24% more than Japanese, almost 15 times Chinese, and 43 times Indians.
• US is the #1 producer of corn, soybeans, and pretty much all the meats; 3rd in wheat; and 4th in potato. It is fair to say that USA feeds, or even fattens, the whole world. I believe that US farmers are the most productive in the world, probably better than China by more than 50 to 1.
• According to Wall Street Journal, US manufacture 20% of the goods in the world and China only 12%. Global Insight predicted China to catch up only by 2020, in terms of value-added manufacturing.
• US media industry clearly dominates the world. No other country produces the global buzz and craze like US does. Hollywood has long conquered the world in movie entertainment, so has the music industry.
• US has the most advanced medical industry. It dominates the world on pharmaceutical, bio-engineering, and all other medical technologies. Whoever was sick, his best bet will be in the US.
• Microsoft, Oracle, HP, IBM, Dell, Cisco, Intel. Need I say more? Who has the best computing technologies in the world?
• Lastly, US generates the most pollution. Whatever measure, whatever category, we are also #1 in depleting those non-renewable resources.

This country was founded on strong pillars, envied by many. All worthy countries started the race to catch up the US after World War II. Sixty four years later, some of them are showing up in the rear mirror. I don’t think any would catch up in a decade or so. If you consider natural resources and population as the fundamental competitive factors, only EU and China are possible contenders in this arena.

History offers lessons on how empires fell. Americans will be wise to study them.