The Secret Sauce : Four chapters of US competitiveness

The rise of American competitiveness did not follow a linear or clear trajectory. Growth and innovation often happened in bursts, after moments of disruption and reinvention.

Taking stock of the past 250 years of US economic history, four chapters emerge (Image). In each, the United States led global markets in at least one major area while working on new strains of innovation that planted the seeds for the following chapter of competitiveness, first in agriculture, then in industry, science, and knowledge. Major geopolitical events roughly mark the transition between chapters—the Civil War, World War II, and the end of the Cold War.

Heralding the end of each chapter, disruptions tested the country, and reinventions at these turning points ultimately strengthened the US economy and its position in the world.