I spent my college days studying quantitative economics, taking off a year mid-degree to teach English in Taiwan. Since my college days I’ve been back to Asia many times, along with side trips to Honduras and (more recently) volunteering in Ukraine. I’d like to think this gives me a unique perspective on the United States, and our position in the world.

There are folks that criticize the United States… but in terms of pure economics we are a true powerhouse.

The stats in this blog are readily found with a quick Google search, feel free to fact check me!

The United States has had the largest GDP on the planet since 1871… here are the TOP TEN reasons why we’ve achieved economic dominance for the last 151 years!

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Reason #1: The USA is the top oil producer on the planet, followed by Russia and Saudi Arabia. This means that the dollars spent on oil and gasoline domestically STAY right here in this country.

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Reason #2: The USA is the largest producer of natural gas globally, followed by Russia and Iran. 88% of our natural gas is used domestically, the remainder is exported out to the rest of the world.

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Reason #3: Our stock market is the largest equities exchange on the planet, holding 59% of all global equities as of January 2022. Consider that American citizens only represent 4% of the global population… yet 59% of the global equities are traded and controlled right here on Wall Street. This also means that American companies that want to expand have ready access to investment capital.

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Reason #4: The USA is the largest exporter of aerospace technology on the planet, with $81 billion in aerospace exports in 2020. Number 2 is France, at $29 billion, with Germany at $28 billion. The aerospace industry is on the cutting edge of electronics, materials science and weapons technology. This means that some of the smartest engineers and technical staff are here in the United States, using their talent and intelligence to innovate and develop our aerospace industry.

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Reason #5: The USA is the top corn exporter in the world, producing 37% of total corn exports in 2021. Again, with only 4% of the world population we are growing 37% of the world’s corn. We are also the #2 wheat exporter on the planet… we grow far more food here than we need.

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Reason #6: No ongoing wars on our soil since the invasion of Pearl Harbor in 1941. This means that there has been no mass diplacement of our population or destruction of our factories (like the scenario in Ukraine right now). The USA has gone to war in foreign lands, but outside of terrorist attacks (like 9/11) we are not waging war across our country.

The USA is a stable place to run a business, raise a family… just live a successful life.

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Reason #7: We have 48 million foreign born immigrants living in our country, about 15% of our population. Some of these folks take advantage of government handouts and welfare, but the vast majority are business owners, work in stable jobs, pay taxes and contribute to our economy. Foreign folks who figure out how to get here tend to be unconventional thinkers; people who are fed up with bad conditions in their own country and are brave enough to come here and start fresh.

Just offhand I can list about 50 people I personally know who came to the USA as broke immigrants, currently earn over $150K per year, own cars and houses, and they also pay high income taxes because of their tax bracket. On balance our immigrants add energy, youth and a hard work ethic to our overall economy.

Do some immigrants become criminals? Yes, but I’m willing to bet there are far more natural born American citizens taking up space in our prison system compared to foreign born prisoners.

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Reason #8: If work your ass off here in the USA you will succeed, whether you have a job or run a business. Our economy rewards a hard work ethic. You can come to the USA as an immigrant with minimal language skills, and if you start a landscaping business and do a great job at fair prices you’ll always be in demand. This is why so many immigrants come to the USA, start a business, work 70 hours a week and become wealthy. In my 48 years on the planet I’ve never seen anyone work hard in a legitimate business and NOT increase their financial position.

American people respect those who work hard, and hard work is rewarded here.

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Reason #9: We have basic human freedoms, and if you pay your taxes and don’t break the law you will never hear from our federal government. In China the communist government seeks to control every single citizen, you can’t travel freely, talk freely or even start a business without government scrutiny.

Americans can even put a bumper sticker on your car that says “Fuck the President” and yet no one knocks on their door or throws them in jail.

Try to do that in Russia, Cuba or mainland China. Good Luck!

I can pack a bag today, move to Alaska tomorrow, and start a business there in a few weeks if I chose to do so. As long as I meet minimal business license requirements and work hard I’ll probably succeed.

I’m an equity shareholder at Tampa Bay Solar, and I ran a staffing agency (nationwide) from 2003 until 2018. I’ve been personally audited ONCE by the IRS, but other than that the local and state governments have never interfered with either business.

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Reason #10:

Our GDP for 2022 is projected to exceed $25 trillion dollars, with China at $19 trillion GDP in 2nd place.

A far distant third is Japan at $4.9 trillion dollars.

China has massive underlying problems, from a shrinking population, to an authoritarian government to a massively built out real estate bubble that is poised to collapse in the next 18 months.

Our GDP represents 25% of the entire global output, even if China had a sudden reversal in government and became a free and open society their economy would not catch up the USA anytime soon.

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There are tons of negative news articles about the “decline of the USA” or how China will overtake us in the next 30 years… but looking at the basic statistics there is clear evidence that we have the best position for global economic dominance for well into the future, barring any type of global catastrophe like a nuclear war or major natural disaster.

Just look at the numbers.

Ben Alexander

August 2022