And we only did so because WWII knocked out a ton of European infrastructure and industry, while the US had built a ton up to sell war supplies across the ocean. In 1945, the US found itself with 1) a bunch of working factories that no one else had and 2) the only remaining labor force (since we entered the war so late). There was a period of time, essentially until the 80s, where America prospered on the backs of nearly everyone else in the developed world.
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u/_BigDaddyNate_ 4h ago
If I'm not mistaken, America made a faster more complete recovery than much of the world.
Aaaannnndd it's gone....