It has long struck me that Europeans have always misunderstood and underestimated the strength of America. They find the US political system chaotic compared to a parliamentary system, but fail to take account of the checks and balances. They mistakenly think that many of the new jobs are 'hamburger flippers', they are obsessed with the US crime rate and income inequalities. It would not seem possible yet we cannot rule it out. Perhaps we can learn where we are in the economic cycle by studying culture rather than economics.
Culture generally precedes economics rather than the other way round.
Culturally, fifty years ago, we had the development of very strong western institutions. The system developed at Bretton Woods created interlocking currencies, which were held strong by the agreements of central banks. Twenty-five years ago, we began seeing the rise of independence of some institutions, the development of tribes and clans and coordinating activities among these tribes and clans. Individuals were beginning to feel confident about their futures, and they developed a need for teamwork and coaching, rather than hierarchies and autocracies. Now, we are even further along in the cycle.