It's happening all over the western world. 50 years ago everything of value happened in the west. Currently there are alot of block on the economy and they only grow.
- people work less hours
- education is slipping
- lots of imports because we don't have it anymore (outsourced because of lack of cheap labour or environment laws)
...
It's not really happening in the US. The US economy remains strong and may not even go into a significant recession in the next year.
The US dollar remains the world reserve currency and allows unparalleled monetary and fiscal policy freedom. No-one is losing confidence in the dollar the same way they did in the pound.
Inflation is coming down in the US and it's in a fantastic place in terms of energy and food security.
The decline of "the West" you refer to is really the decline of Europe.
True, but how long will the rest of the world accept the USD as universal currency. When they don't the US can't keep printing, so the US will do everything to keep its current position. The 'switch' will be the problem of our generation.
I have been in finance industry for more than 20 years. People have been talking about replacing USD as reserve currency for as long as I can remember. The problem is nothing else is better. EUR? JPY? GBP? CNY? Gold? All of them have more issues compared to USD.
- people work less hours - education is slipping - lots of imports because we don't have it anymore (outsourced because of lack of cheap labour or environment laws) ...