美国霸权削弱的原因是什么
美国金融危机只是暴露了美国经济问题的一个方面，美国整个经济结构存在的问题要更为严重。美国经济结构的最大问题是军事工业比重太大，国防开支比重太大，而民用产业萎缩太快。这种结局是历史形成的，从根本上来说是美苏争霸的后遗症。第二次世界大战以后，美苏争霸四十多年，美集中力量发展军事产业和与军事相关的高科技。外观上经济蓬勃发展，科技日新月异，一派兴旺景象。然而发展了军事工业和军事科技，必然会延缓和压缩其他方面的发展，首当其冲的就是低价值的产业。两虎相争，一死一伤，苏联的瓦解是死了，美国其实也受了伤，只是在胜利的狂欢中，掩盖了伤害罢了。
美国是第一进口大国，出口只能排在三四位，年年都是大量的贸易赤字，却长期得不到解决。原因很简单，美国进口的大量是民用产品，是人们生活的必需品，自己不生产，只能靠进口。美国出口的是高技术产品和军事产品，不打仗谁来买武器？有些高技术产品密级很高又有出口限制。这是美国必然存在大量贸易逆差的根本原因。
美国的强大得益于吸纳了全世界的人才。第二次世界大战前后，欧洲大批人才来到美国，与此同时，美国本土也培养了大批优秀人才，使美国的科学技术得到迅猛发展，把其他国家抛在后面。到了21世纪，欧洲来美国的人才却大量减少，国外人才主要来源于印度、中国等亚洲国家。与此同时，美国的基础教育，特别是数学与科学的教育却落后于亚欧许多国家，美国年轻人热心于从商，却不喜欢做艰苦的科学技术工作，这是一个很大的隐患。
美国的霸权反映了美国的实力，经济实力、军事实力、科技实力，三者互为依存，经济实力是基础，军事实力是表象，科技实力是统帅，都依赖于人才。说美国霸权已过顶峰，根据就是美国经济的困难和科技人才的后继问题。
从美苏争霸、美国独霸世界到美国霸权减弱，我们应该吸取他们的经验教训。首先，我们不要像苏联那样去和美国争霸。两强相争不是两败俱伤，就是一死一伤，胜者即使一时称快，内伤只有自己承受。第二就是要极端重视人才。第三就是要保持忧患意识和坚持艰苦奋斗精神。 （作者为旅美学者）
The problem with the U.S. economy is simply greed. We placed restrictions on industry in the U.S. that, although logical and reasonable, like not dumping your chemical effluence directly into the rivers, still cost a company money…it is also very expensive to live in the U.S., and so companies had to pay higher prices for labor. This caused a loss of profits to investors in these companies, and made it very difficult to compete on a worldwide basis. Those we have dubbed “neo-cons” sought to override these non-profitable factors, and so infested our government, placing those that would “play ball” in power, by utilizing media propaganda & political donations. They were successful. We now have virtually no tariffs on goods coming into the country, and our companies have moved to locations around the world where labor is much cheaper, and polluting the countryside is acceptable, to the properly bribed officials.
You contend we have not kept up with our science & mathematics training in our schools, and lag behind other countries in our colleges. This is true, but you are confusing cause & effect. There is no reason to go into half a lifetime of debt to become an engineer, if there are no engineering jobs available…even our military industrial complex uses components built overseas, so the pool of available jobs in these fields is very small. It is much more logical to go into business, as it at least gives you a chance “network” your way into a half-decent career, using a lot of “ego-stroking” & insincere platitudes to the higher-ups.
Yes, the U.S. finds itself in a situation that is not sustainable, and has resulted in the downfall of every country in history that has tried to survive by being a nation of “shopkeepers”, instead of a nation that creates & builds. But it was not the disparity in consumer production vs. military production that did this to us…it was the rot from within our own government, and those that sold out the country’s best interests, in favor of uncountable dollars in their own bank accounts…this is what has crippled us, just as these types of people have brought down strong countries throughout history.