It is the institutions of America that makes everyone prosperous.
Americans are not uniquely intelligent, hard working, competent or disciplined.
I was watching a group of Americans walking along a retail street in San Francisco recently.
My first reaction was that these people are making a lot of money but they lack any specific talents for making a lot of money.
There are people in other countries who are much more talented, as a nation, than we Americans are. The Japanese are much harder working and more diligent than we are. The Israelis and Singaporeans are more intelligent, educated and ingenious than Americans. Scandinavians are much more honest in their business dealings than Americans. Overseas Chinese are much more skilled at small business than are Americans. So why are Americans so prosperous despite their lack of unique talents?
Because we work inside a system that makes use of a few supremely talented business people and we have a system that uses nearly everyone elses modest contribution as well. We all prosper despite our relative mediocrity. It is the system and institutions we inherited, nearly all of which arose by accident.
What are the attributes that make America so productive? Or has in the past? Another blog on this subject in about a week.