Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

News

An American Sense of Scale

An American Sense of Scale
Willis Sparks
By Willis SparksDecember 08, 2017
Willis Sparks
Willis Sparks is a senior editor for GZERO Daily. He is also a Director in the Global Macro practice at Eurasia Group, where he has worked since 2005. He has made speeches on international politics on every continent except Antarctica. Willis holds degrees from Brown University, the Juilliard School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He also holds an honorary degree from the Moscow Art Theatre School. A native of Macon, Georgia, Willis has worked as a stuntman at New York's Metropolitan Opera. As a child, he declined an opportunity to spend an afternoon riding the Great American Scream Machine, a rollercoaster, with Ronald McDonald, for money. He has never regretted that decision.
See Full Bio
Make us preferred on Google

The US share of global GDP has fallen considerably over the past few decades, as emerging economies like China, India, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico and others have expanded. In 1970, the US accounted for 36.4% of the world’s economic output, according to the World Bank. In 2016, that figure was down to 24.6%.

Yet, many Americans seem to have an exaggerated view of the decline of their country’s economic power. Here’s some context from Mark Perry and Richard Florida.

Economies that are comparable in size:

  • California and the United Kingdom

  • New York City and Canada

  • Florida and Indonesia

  • Los Angeles and Australia

  • Ohio and Saudi Arabia

  • New Jersey and Argentina

  • Massachusetts and Poland

  • South Carolina and Vietnam

US economic heft isn’t what it used to be, but no one should underestimate the continuing appeal of access to its markets and the influence it provides US policymakers, even at the state level and local level.

Latest Videos

Yoshua Bengio: AI is moving faster than our ability to govern it play icon
AI For Good Summit

Yoshua Bengio: AI is moving faster than our ability to govern it

An AI revolution for Africa?
AI For Good Summit

An AI revolution for Africa?

To save lives, make data collection cool
AI For Good Summit

To save lives, make data collection cool

Is the Strait of Hormuz closed again?
ask ian

Is the Strait of Hormuz closed again?

How AI is revolutionizing weather forecasting
AI For Good Summit

How AI is revolutionizing weather forecasting

Annalena Baerbock: AI can't replace the basics
AI For Good Summit

Annalena Baerbock: AI can't replace the basics

More For You

Spain-Gibraltar border comes crashing down, US and Iran enter shaky equilibrium, Mexico’s Sheinbaum finally challenges an ICE killing

The demolition of the border fence between Spain and Gibraltar in La Línea de la Concepción, on July 15, 2026.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares and Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo attend a ceremony marking the demolition of the border fence between Spain and Gibraltar in La Línea de la Concepción, on July 15, 2026.

Samuel Vega/JNA Press/Sipa USA
A physical border falls, a digital one risesSome 118 years after it was installed, the border fence between Spain and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar fell on Tuesday, after the European Union and the United Kingdom clinched a long-awaited deal last year over how to manage the border in the wake of Brexit. But while one wall falls, [...]

China’s economic engine cools

China’s economic engine cools
Will Fitzpatrick
China’s economy posted one of its slowest quarterly growth rates on record. The slowdown was hardly a surprise: earlier this year, Chinese officials set the country’s lowest growth target since 1991. The weak growth is not coming from a decrease in manufacturing. In fact, exports rose 27% year over year in June. Instead, it’s coming from sluggish [...]

The memorandum of misunderstanding over Hormuz, Magyar’s Orbán-era purge, China's anti-graft drive

​Crude oil tanker Odessa, carrying UAE crude after passing through the Strait of Hormuz with its Automatic Identification System transponder turned off, navigates the waters at Daesan port, in Seosan, South Korea, May 8, 2026.

Crude oil tanker Odessa, carrying UAE crude after passing through the Strait of Hormuz with its Automatic Identification System transponder turned off, navigates the waters at Daesan port, where it is expected to discharge crude oil, in Seosan, South Korea, May 8, 2026.

REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon/File Photo
The memorandum of misunderstanding?The US and Iran exchanged strikes for a third consecutive night, with Washington striking military targets, vowing to reimpose its naval blockade, and Tehran hitting allies in the region. The uptick in fighting centers on a dispute around the Strait of Hormuz, as each side appears to have a different [...]

No more father-son time for the Bolsonaros

No more father-son time for the Bolsonaros
Will Fitzpatrick
The ban comes after a court ruled that Flavio helped his father sidestep his court-ordered social media ban by publishing a letter on his behalf. The message, which highlighted Jair Bolsonaro’s support for Flávio’s presidential bid, was also viewed as premature campaigning, as Brazil’s election season cannot officially begin until Aug. 16. The ban [...]