The U.S.’s decline started with little things that people got used to:

Empty construction sites
Roads and buildings that took forever to finish
Unpredictable and enormous hospital bills
6% real-estate commissions https://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 

When writers speak of American decline, they’re usually talking about international power:

The rise of China
The waning of U.S. hegemony

To most Americans, those are abstract things
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But the most immediate cost of U.S. decline comes from the country’s disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic. Leadership failures are pervasive and catastrophic at every level:

President Trump
The CDC
The FDA
State and local leaders http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 

The U.S. is suffering a horrific surge of infections in states such as Arizona, Texas and Florida.

Italy – a country that's legendary for government dysfunction – has crushed the curve of infection, while the U.S. just set a daily record for case growth http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 

In addition to worrying about their jobs and livelihoods, Americans must now be subjected to months of images of Italians casually walking around on the streets while they cower in their houses.

It’s a painful and stark demonstration of national decline http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 

The consequences of U.S. decline will far outlast coronavirus:

High housing costs
Poor infrastructure and transit
Endemic gun violence
Police brutality
Bitter political and racial divisions
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The U.S. will be a less appealing place for high-skilled workers to live

That means companies will find other countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere a more attractive destination for investment, robbing the U.S. of jobs and depressing wages
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Some of the worst trends of U.S. decline will be exacerbated:

Less tax money means even more urban decay
Social-welfare programs are forced to make big cuts
Anti-immigration policies will throw away skilled labor http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 

U.S. economic advantage is under threat. Unless there’s a huge push to…

Bring back immigrants
Sustain research universities
Make housing cheaper
Lower infrastructure costs
Reform the police

...the result could be decades of declining living standards http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 

The U.S. has long enjoyed a so-called exorbitant privilege, with the dollar as the lynchpin of the global financial system.

But if enough investors lose confidence in the U.S.’s general effectiveness as a country, that advantage will vanish http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 

If the dollar crashes, Americans will find themselves paying much more for everything from cars to TVs to gasoline to imported food.

Large-scale unrest would undoubtedly result and -- in the worst-case scenario -- the U.S. could collapse like Venezuela http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1 

If the U.S. goes from rich colossus to dysfunctional developing nation in just a few decades, it will be one of the most spectacular instances of decline in world history http://trib.al/Hxz1hl1