American Economy Proves Surprisingly Resilient Against Global Peers
For over ten years, many experts have repeated the same story. They claim American power is fading. Political divisions, institutional stress, and constant domestic problems make this decline seem obvious. People often compare the United States to a supposedly rising China and wealthy democratic allies. The assumption is clear. America is losing ground.
Yet the actual economic numbers tell a different tale. When you examine data from the G7 and other advanced economies, the picture changes. The United States stands out among rich nations. It certainly faces challenges. However, it shows unusual strength in output, productivity, and creating wealth. This resilience becomes most apparent when we compare America to its peers, not view it alone.
Global Economic Share: Holding Steady While Others Fall
Back in 1990, the United States represented about 26 percent of the world's total economic output. More than thirty years later, after countless predictions of China overtaking it, the US share remains almost unchanged. It sits at roughly 25.9 percent, assuming China's own growth figures are accurate.
This consistency is significant. The global economy is much larger today than at the Cold War's end. US output alone is estimated to reach $30.62 trillion in 2025. The contrast with America's closest allies is sharp.
When the Cold War concluded, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada together accounted for around 32 percent of global GDP. Today, their combined share has dropped to below 14 percent. This relative shrinkage reflects several issues. Weaker productivity growth, demographic pressures, and long-term underinvestment, especially in Europe and Japan, have taken a toll.
Per-Capita Comparisons Reveal Stark Divergence
Looking at individual wealth highlights the gap further. Using data from the International Monetary Fund, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Census Bureau, we see a telling pattern. Mississippi, the poorest US state by GDP per capita, now outperforms four G7 countries on the same measure.
West Virginia, with the second-lowest per capita GDP in the US, surpasses all six non-US G7 members. Since 2020, US GDP per capita has increased by approximately $20,000. No other G7 economy has matched this gain, even over much longer periods.
Productivity Drives the Widening Transatlantic Gap
Productivity growth has been a key factor in this expanding divide. The United States has outpaced the rest of the G7 in productivity gains. This advantage comes from better technology adoption, deeper capital investment, and more flexible labor mobility.
Europe's struggle to keep pace is now officially recognized. Mario Draghi's 2024 report on European competitiveness, commissioned by the European Commission, issued a stark warning. Europe is losing ground to both the US and China in productivity, innovation, and technological scale.
Draghi argued that without major changes, Europe faces a slow decline. He called for EU-wide industrial policy, deeper capital-market integration, large-scale joint investment in digital and green technologies, and a shift from what he termed a small-state mentality. Without these steps, he predicted weaker growth, declining industrial capacity, and reduced global influence.
Wealth Concentration and Capital Formation Show Strength
The US economy's resilience is also visible in private wealth accumulation. According to Altrata's World Ultra Wealth Report 2025, the United States now hosts 38 percent of the world's ultra-high-net-worth individuals. These are people worth more than $30 million. This share is larger than the next ten countries combined.
In absolute numbers, 192,470 Americans control about $22.3 trillion in private wealth. The pace of this accumulation is speeding up, not slowing down. Altrata reports the number of ultra-wealthy Americans rose by 21 percent in just the past year.
China, the nearest competitor, holds approximately $5.9 trillion across 54,020 individuals. This is only a fraction of the US total. Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, France, Italy, and India all trail far behind.
This wealth concentration is not just about old money. The United States continues to generate new wealth through entrepreneurship on an unmatched scale. Consider the world's five richest individuals: Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Page. All are American. All built fortunes rooted in technology platforms that transformed entire industries.
Their companies act as capital-generating ecosystems. They reinforce US dominance in finance, innovation, and market depth. Altrata's Billionaire Census 2025 adds more detail. North America's billionaire population increased by 7.8 percent last year to 1,198 individuals. Of these, 1,135 are American.
Their combined wealth now exceeds $13 trillion. That is more than the total market capitalization of Apple, Microsoft, and NVIDIA put together.
Why Other Nations Struggle to Compete
Wealth creation elsewhere faces structural hurdles. China's ultra-wealthy population continues to grow, but the pace is slowing. Tighter state control and trade restrictions weigh on its technology sector.
Europe crossed the symbolic threshold of 1,000 billionaires for the first time. Yet its growth remains more cautious and institutional. There is less tolerance for the volatility that defines US capitalism.
That very volatility, often criticized by foreign regulators, proves central to American dynamism. The same conditions that unsettle other economies enable US adaptation. Rapid technological change, market swings, and aggressive capital reallocation allow the US to adjust quickly.
It continues generating new entrants at the top of the wealth spectrum. In 2024 alone, Altrata found that 10 percent of individuals globally worth between $1 billion and $2 billion fell below that threshold. In the US, new billionaires replaced them almost immediately.
Acknowledging America's Persistent Challenges
None of this means the United States is without problems. Income inequality remains the highest in the G7. Infrastructure investment has lagged for years. Healthcare costs are structurally high and continue to rise.
Public finances face sustained pressure. The US closed fiscal year 2025 with a federal deficit of roughly $1.8 trillion. This is only slightly lower than the previous year. It adds to an already elevated national debt burden.
The economy also depends heavily on strong equity markets and continued investment in artificial intelligence. Both areas remain vulnerable to shifts in investor sentiment and capital flows.
But when measured against its peers, the United States has not drifted into economic marginality. Instead, it has pulled further ahead at a time when many allies struggle to adapt. Strong allies once amplified American power. Today, the imbalance runs the other way.
Predictions of American decline often focus inward. They draw conclusions from political dysfunction alone. A comparative view, grounded in output, productivity, and wealth, suggests something more complex. It reveals a country whose internal problems coexist with an economic position that remains, by global standards, unusually strong.
