2/7/2017
By Charles Payne, CEO & Principal Analyst

Well, Sunday night’s Super Bowl was one for the ages as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick cemented their respective statuses as best player and coach in NFL history. 

And while much credit has to go the New England Patriots, something must be said for the way the Atlanta Falcons lost.

What we saw was the best example of the difference between playing to win and playing not to lose.

In the first half of the game, after shaking off initial jitters, the Falcons found their stride playing carefree football.  In the second half after building what appeared to be an uncatchable lead, they played tentatively, waiting and hoping to run out the clock.

In many ways, this has happened with western nations in general, and with America in particular.

As far back as 1950, in the aftermath of World War II, the United States generated more than 27% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  That year the United Kingdom, France, and Germany were at 15.6%, while China and India were less than 5%, and Japan at 3%.

The west put it into neutral and still dominated the world for a long time.  In the 1970s, we made fun of those cheap Datsun cars and transistor radios from Japan.

Today, America combined with the UK, France, and Germany, is only 27% of the global GDP and it’s slipping fast.  The alarms bells are going off, sparking actions that have resulted in Brexit and Trump. Is it going to be enough to chuck out the old flat-footed malaise?

The sense of urgency goes beyond the ballot box.

Are the citizens of the west ready to play to win again?

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Charles Payne
Wall Street Strategies

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