The Betrayal of American Prosperity — When Cheap Becomes Expensive

Crisis in Perception · Sep 10, 2026 · 56m

What if an economy can become richer at the checkout counter while becoming weaker underneath?

Welcome to Crisis in Perception, where we examine the systems shaping our world.

Using The Betrayal of American Prosperity: Free Market Delusions, America’s Decline, and How We Must Compete in the Post-Dollar Era by Clyde Prestowitz as our lens, this Deep Dive investigates whether cheap consumption can conceal the erosion of the productive systems that support long-term prosperity.

Writing in 2010, Prestowitz argues that the United States gradually moved away from an economic model centered on…