Carlo Cipolla has a volume of readings about different empires — not America — dating from 1970. The sole Amazon reviewer mentions several factors: “Foreign invasions or debilitating foreign wars, failure to adapt to new times, failure to innovate, social patterns that encourage uneconomic attitudes, over-taxation, wages and industry spiralling downwards, the collapse of agriculture and waste of resources—all these and more play some part in the economic decline of empires.” My take – pure seat of the pants judgment: 1. We have the debilitating foreign wars, but no invasion from foreigners. 2. We still have adaptation and innovation, but … Continue reading Is the American empire in decline?