Commentary “America at this moment stands at the summit of the world.”—Winston Churchill, 1950 At the end of World War II, the United States was far and away the world’s predominant economic and military power. America in 1950 was nothing less than an industrial colossus. According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, the United States in 1950 produced 80 percent of the world’s automobiles, compared to about 6 percent today. The United States commanded a similarly outsized share in other spheres of economic production, with three-quarters or more of world output of machine tools, electronics, chemicals, airplanes, and computers. The United States was self-sufficient in energy then. U.S. oilfields in 1950 accounted for over 50 percent of world oil production. American industry produced more than twice the combined goods and services of all European industries. U.S. per capita production was 60 percent above Germany’s, 70 percent above France’s, …