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Is America showing signs of decline that may make it impossible to make America great again? Michael Prowse (Harvard Business Law Review, 1992) "Strange as it may seem, a nation once celebrated for its irrepressible optimism now appears to be obsessed by decline. America’s list of complaints seems endless: Real wages are falling. Productivity growth is down. Companies aren’t competitive in global markets. White-collar jobs are no longer secure. The nation’s infrastructure is collapsing. The federal deficit is soaring. The health system is deteriorating. The cities are unsafe. The schools are failing. The gap between rich and poor is widening. 1. The real issue isn’t decline so much as increased equality among advanced industrial nations. During the postwar era (and, indeed, for much of this century), U.S. companies dominated the world economy. However advantageous to Americans, eventually that situation was bound to end. Concerns about decline are a symptom of the growing equality...