Complex Adaptive Systems: A New Blueprint to Analyze Imperial Collapse (Interview) (Dialogue with Niall Ferguson) (Interview‪)‬

Ferguson's essay "Complexity and Collapse: Empires on the Edge of Chaos" in Foreign Affairs (March/April 2010)asserts that empires can suddenly and unexpectedly collapse if a small trigger throws off the balance of the system; imperial collapse does not necessarily require a long period of decline. Considering that fiscal failures often cause such collapses, the growing public debt of the United States may be a signal that the US empire is in danger. Reading through your article, the qusestion arises: is the United States losing its ability to create value as a complex adaptive system in any other way than by the increasing debt burden--are we losing the creative edge, or is this purely fiscal?