Declining economy? It's going to decline itself to 1st place by 2030.
- world trade - PPP - Navy size
Yes China Is Lying About the Size of Their Economy
https://fortune.com/2021/03/11/stimulus-package-covid-relief...
The $1.9 trillion stimulus package could see the U.S. economy outpace China’s for the first time in 45 years
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4414648-chinas-shifting-dem...
China's Shifting Demographics Suggest Slower Economic growth
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/05/china-economic-growth-p...
China Signals Economic Caution at People’s Congress
https://www.politico.eu/article/china-topples-us-as-eus-top-... China topples US as EU Top trade partner
https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/08/20/Report-Chinas-mi... Report: China's military could overwhelm U.S. forces in Indo-Pacific region
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-10-01/From-nobody-to-somebod... China has the worlds largest high speed rail network
second link is only regarding goods. goods + services, US is EU top trade partner
third link: there are now Japan/Australian/US/UK/France/German warships patrolling in the indo-pacific region.
fourth link: costly to maintain, uncertainty post covid
At the end, the Brits fell after pummeling Germany two times. Both haven't recovered fully today. So this historical analogue doesn't really speak well to both US and China in the next, say, 3 generations. Wonder who would be the US in this situation though.
What matters is GDP/capita, not total output in a nation of 1.4 Billion people. You can easily get "first place" by redrawing boundaries around a bunch of poor and middle income nations. That redraw doesn't make anyone better off.