The story of how 13 colonies from a world backwater managed to create the most powerful economy mankind has ever known. 300 years ago America was just a collection of disparate settlements on the edge of the inhabited world. It first provided prosperity for its citizens, then exported prosperity around the world in the form of inventions and ideas. Today America leads the world in a number of industries, from natural resource development to biotechnology. But other fast-growing powers are taking away its economic lead.