U.S. paradise lost?

Given the continuous economic booms in the East, some people begin to think that in next several decades, countries in the East will take over the U.S.'s role as the world's economic leader. There is two way to think about this issue. One, this situation is not going to happen because back in the 80's there were talks about how Japan would become the world's leading economy, and that did not really happen. Second, the U.S. will actually lost the economy battle because things are different this time around. Many developing countries are following the same recipe that the U.S. had adopted to develop its great economy -- e.g., invest in new scientific research and encourage innovations.

If the first were true, there is not much we have to do. However, if the second case were true, then the U.S. government should wake up now and take this issue seriously. Why? According to this IHT article "Economic View: U.S. paradise lost?", in recent years the U.S. government has lost interested in funding new basic research programs, and has been discouraging smart people to come the U.S. to stay and work. I think this puts the U.S. economy in a very dangerous position.