The author clarifies how and why changes are happening to America's economy and its former world prominence. At the root of most of these problems, he identifies a fatal flaw in our governance structure, unanticipated by the framers of the constitution. This book concludes with an urgent call for a practical correction of this defect and a plea for the campaign rhetoric of the 2016 political candidates to express clearly the reasons why they advocate their policy positions on important economic issues.