How did the USA become so wealthy?

Answer 1

The United States, upon it's founding, established the first experiment in near-complete economic freedom in world history. It has a constitutional guarantee to private property rights and a strong anti-tax sentiment. As a result, individuals were free to pursue their economic interests (i.e. start businesses, invent, etc) without the burden of excessive taxation, regulation, coercion, or theft. The rule of law was upheld, which punished the use of force or fraud, which by and large, encouraged honest business practices and allowed for trade of property and labor in a market free from external coercion. This contrasted with the rest of the world for decades, where tyrants, despots, and even democratically elected governments would seize property, over-regulate, and block individual pursuit of profit for the purpose of political or financial gain of the governments. As a result of this freedom, American entrepreneurs invented the steam engine, the capacity to produce electricity cheaply, the assembly line, the airplane, etc. The jobs and wealth created by these and many other innovations remained in the United States. Freedom also allowed competition, which kept consumer prices low and quality of services high, compared to the rest of the world. This economic system, which was predicated on the natural and inalienable right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, was formerly known as the "system of natural liberty", and is now known as capitalism.