The U.S.’s decline started with little things that people got used to:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚧" title="Baustellenschild" aria-label="Emoji: Baustellenschild">Empty construction sites
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🛣️" title="Autobahn" aria-label="Emoji: Autobahn">Roads and buildings that took forever to finish
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚑" title="Rettungswagen" aria-label="Emoji: Rettungswagen">Unpredictable and enormous hospital bills
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏡" title="Haus mit Garten" aria-label="Emoji: Haus mit Garten">6% real-estate commissions https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

When writers speak of American decline, they’re usually talking about international power:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flagge von China" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von China">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📈" title="Tabelle mit Aufwärtstrend" aria-label="Emoji: Tabelle mit Aufwärtstrend">The rise of China
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📉" title="Tabelle mit Abwärtstrend" aria-label="Emoji: Tabelle mit Abwärtstrend">The waning of U.S. hegemony

To most Americans, those are abstract things
http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

But the most immediate cost of U.S. decline comes from the country’s disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic. Leadership failures are pervasive and catastrophic at every level:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten">President Trump
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧪" title="Test tube" aria-label="Emoji: Test tube">The CDC
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💊" title="Tablette" aria-label="Emoji: Tablette">The FDA
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🗞️" title="Eingerollte Zeitung" aria-label="Emoji: Eingerollte Zeitung">State and local leaders http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

The U.S. is suffering a horrific surge of infections in states such as Arizona, Texas and Florida.

Italy – a country that& #39;s legendary for government dysfunction – has crushed the curve of infection, while the U.S. just set a daily record for case growth http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

In addition to worrying about their jobs and livelihoods, Americans must now be subjected to months of images of Italians casually walking around on the streets while they cower in their houses.

It’s a painful and stark demonstration of national decline http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

The consequences of U.S. decline will far outlast coronavirus:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏠" title="Haus" aria-label="Emoji: Haus">High housing costs
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚉" title="Haltestelle" aria-label="Emoji: Haltestelle">Poor infrastructure and transit
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🪦" title="Headstone" aria-label="Emoji: Headstone">Endemic gun violence
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚓" title="Polizeiwagen" aria-label="Emoji: Polizeiwagen">Police brutality
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚨" title="Polizeiautos mit drehendem Licht" aria-label="Emoji: Polizeiautos mit drehendem Licht">Bitter political and racial divisions
http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

The U.S. will be a less appealing place for high-skilled workers to live

That means companies will find other countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere a more attractive destination for investment, robbing the U.S. of jobs and depressing wages
http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

Some of the worst trends of U.S. decline will be exacerbated:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💵" title="Banknote mit Dollar-Zeichen" aria-label="Emoji: Banknote mit Dollar-Zeichen">Less tax money means even more urban decay
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✂️" title="Schere" aria-label="Emoji: Schere">Social-welfare programs are forced to make big cuts
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🛂" title="Passkontrolle" aria-label="Emoji: Passkontrolle">Anti-immigration policies will throw away skilled labor http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

U.S. economic advantage is under threat. Unless there’s a huge push to…

Bring back immigrants
Sustain research universities
Make housing cheaper
Lower infrastructure costs
Reform the police

...the result could be decades of declining living standards http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💸" title="Geld mit Flügeln" aria-label="Emoji: Geld mit Flügeln">The U.S. has long enjoyed a so-called exorbitant privilege, with the dollar as the lynchpin of the global financial system.

But if enough investors lose confidence in the U.S.’s general effectiveness as a country, that advantage will vanish http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

If the dollar crashes, Americans will find themselves paying much more for everything from cars to TVs to gasoline to imported food.

Large-scale unrest would undoubtedly result and -- in the worst-case scenario -- the U.S. could collapse like Venezuela http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...

If the U.S. goes from rich colossus to dysfunctional developing nation in just a few decades, it will be one of the most spectacular instances of decline in world history http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 ">https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1&q...