The American debt crisis is nothing new, but the amount of debt accumulated is a different story. As of February 2014, the debt ceiling was $17.2 trillion. An economic threat pushes the nation over the fiscal cliff, and the debt crisis causes our country to lose its superpower status: tax increases, spending cuts, and, soon after, the debt limit. Most Americans believe we are a superpower, but it is only our military that is a superpower. Our economy is second or third class in the world due to the ever-increasing debt growth. The fact that we import more than we export is hurting the United States financially and is driving our economy further into a deeper hole in our debt crisis. This has happened over and over again with countries. For example, Great Britain was once the dominant power in the world. The Suez Canal was one of the most important shipping routes in international trade. But with Britain trying to regain Western control and years of unsustainable finances and economic decline, everything changed. “Over the past several decades, U.S. foreign economic policy has been the worldwide implementation of a package of deregulation, liberalization, privatization, new property rights, and new limits on government policy space, often dubbed the Washington Consensus or neoliberal agenda” (Wallach ). “The impact of trade agreements enforced by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and international agencies, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, have been the delivery mechanism for a radical global experiment” (Wallach). Congress believes it knows best how to best spend U.S. taxpayer dollars to stimulate our economy. They believe taxpayer money spent on the projects would flow completely through the paper middle, to cut most if not all ties with China. They have too much governance and power over the US and other countries. They are more concerned about their own interests and benefits, to the point that they are taking over all the products in America and producing their own at a lower price. While the United States is busy clashing with each other over conflicting policy positions, other countries are thriving thanks to our indecisiveness. Major centers of wealth and power have grown up around the world. But politicians have completely ignored this trend. They spend and act as if US global dominance were an endless river (Black). Being faced with the problem of crisis could create generational success, but being two steps behind could further desolate our economy and our superpower status. It is believed that it is possible to escape the growing debt crisis with great leadership, sensible solutions and bipartisanship.