An old saying is: "Hindsight is 20/20." So here is a gedanken: What will people observe in the year 2020, with the benefit of hindsight?
The following is my conjecture on what folks will cite when asked: "What went wrong?" Profligate government spending at all levels Multigenerational welfare Rampant food stamp dependence (1/6th of the populace, as of 2013!) Loss of American competitiveness Declining academic standards and performance Decline in manufacturing and a shift to a service economy A systematically debased currency