…What I mean is: Haven’t you ever gone into a bookstore and seen the glut of books insisting that America is declining, it’s toast — that we should put a fork in it? So have I. So has Thomas F. Madden, a history professor at Saint Louis University. In fact, Professor Madden’s seen so many such books that one time, “…I began to wonder whether my dollars would be worth anything by the time I hit the checkout counter,” (Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2008).

However, there certainly is pain now at the gas pump, but that problem’s susceptible to a political solution this November. And today, the Wall Street Journal Online even reports an optimistic note from Fed governor Frederic Mishkin, “While the current turmoil is not yet over, we can see some signs of improvement.”

Despite today’s slow economic growth, the long-term picture — based on economic trends over the last 200 years — is much brighter. Indeed, the last 200 years featured unparalleled, rhythmic economic booms twice per century, that were much closer to Fortune magazine’s observation — “The Greatest Economic Boom Ever” 7/23/07 — than to the gloom-and-doom specialists in the bookstores. Skeptics should note that the rhythmic timing and monotonic growth of major economic booms during the last 200 years were not altered by a variety of major economic shocks, including the Civil War, the Great Depression, W.W. I, and others. And the next Maslow Window is scheduled for 2015.

Professor Madden emphasizes the simple fact that, “The U.S. is not only the wealthiest and most powerful country on Earth now, but in all of history. There’s never been a better time or place to be alive than America in the 21st century,” (Empires of Trust: How Rome Built — And America is Building — A New World; Out later this month.)

So why is fear-mongering so popular today? Madden thinks that, like Rome at its height, “Prosperity and security are boring. Nobody wants to read about them.” And when Rome actually did start to slide in 3rd century AD, doomsday predictions were much less popular and harder to find.

So in a few hours when you’re enjoying Independence Day fireworks, fear not. Remember that a variety of long- and short-term trends — in the economy, technology, and society — indicate we’re on the edge of a recovery that’s leading to a Golden Age in Space (and on Earth) powered by an unparalleled 1960s-style economic boom. Sooner than you think you’ll be enjoying your first trip into space, your children will plan their honeymoon at the Moon, satellites will beam endless, clean energy to Earth from space, simple lifeforms will be discovered on Mars, and human civilization will continue its expansion into the cosmos!

Happy 4th of July!

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