THE FATE OF EMPIRES

    The above graph of the rise and decline of empires was reproduced from An Inquiry into the Permanent Causes of the Decline and Fall of Powerful and Wealthy Nations written by William Playfair and published in 1805.  Mr. Playfair's apparent intent was to provide an analysis which would assist the continuance of the British empire.  Whether it helped prolong the British empire could be argued, but it is a moot argument.  The British empire is defunct.  Essentially, no one listened to Playfair because his analysis implied the unthinkable prediction of decline and fall of the British empire.
    So, too, are Russia and its successor the Soviet Union, the Third Reich and other European empires and would be empires defunct.  So, too, is pre-WWII Imperial Japan.
    Today, the U. S. Empire is euphemistically referred to as the only remaining superpower.  If history means anything, the "decline and fall" of the United States is beyond prediction; it is a certainty.