Countries need good marketing, nowadays. All of our attention is spread so thin, that you have to actively compete, advertise, and build trust, to get the world to care about what you care about.

I think the USA thought it became so rich and powerful because it was so wonderful, but it became so rich and powerful because _we thought_ it was so wonderful. Now, we think it kinda sucks. We want our money back, we stay away, and we avoid buying their stuff.

What changed? Their marketing changed. Rather than being inspirational and aspirational, it's creepy gazillionaires led by Old Man Yells at Cloud. (But not at The Cloud, just a literal cloud.)



Other countries just seem cooler or more deserving, or have charming and charismatic leaders, so our money is being redirected to there. **The global economy is an attention economy.**