While economic prosperity may not be a zero sum game; the decimation of American manufacturing is certainly worrisome. There are large swaths of the country that are in real malaise (the rust belt, the rural South where the textile industries have fled abroad). I get vexed by those who compare the death of American industry to the obsolescence of the buggy whips.
America still has vast potential and a can do spirit but stagnation, personal debt and the collapse of much family structures do present some real challenges.