If you are old enough you remember when America was supposedly behind the Soviets in space exploration (the Sputnik scare). Or when OPEC was going to destroy us by shutting off the oil spigot. Or when the combination of Vietnam and Watergate was going to fundamentally alter our national identity. Or when Japan was going to be the largest economy in the world.

Today the “declinism prophets” believe China will overtake America economically, politically, and militarily.

Not so fast, says author Josef Joffe. His book The Myth of America’s Decline: Politics, Economics, and a Half Century of False Prophecies looks at the history of predictions about America’s decline and what it means for our future. Armed with strong statistics and historical precedence, Joffe argues that America has a strong and vibrant future. He also points out the weaknesses in countries like China, Russia, India and the European Union.

It’s a compelling argument. Though I didn’t agree with everything in this book, it was a welcome counterpoint to the prevailing attitude that America is on the brink. I’ve always felt like the predictions of “the rise of the rest” seemed somehow off, and that the problems America faces seem overblown.

Not that the problems aren’t real; they are most definitely real. But they are also solvable and they pale by comparison to what other countries face.

A lot of people need to read this book. Young and old, liberal and conservative, it seems like everybody sees the negative in America and is predicting some sort of collapse. Read this book, get a reality check, and you might see things differently.