Quote from college_trad3r:
it is well known the US is by GDP richest country in the world, but the riches are abnormally skewed to the 0,01% top earners who take 95% of the pie.
Income gap between rich and poor is excessive, which looks alot like third world countries who usually have large income gaps between rich and poor
Take collective U.S. debt into the equation and see what the GDP figures show.
The federal government is deeply in hock, many states and local units of government are imploding, and few people as a % of the overall population have positive net worth.
Just look at the true national debt of the United States - 60 Trillion +, if you include unfunded future liabilities already incurred.
Of course, the U.S. could default on those, which would just exacerbate the downturn as much of it is transfer payments through SS, medicare, etc.