Well, the recovery from WW2 didn’t take that long. A big factor that isn’t often mentioned is the existence of a large domestic internal free trade zone with few legal and cultural barriers to trade, in addition to plentiful natural resources. There is still nothing that rivals the US in this regard (the EU might have internal free trade in theory, but in practice there are numerous barriers), but its substantial problems in governance and large income inequality (compared to top-tier economies) more than negate these advantages.
Well, the recovery from WW2 didn’t take that long. A big factor that isn’t often mentioned is the existence of a large domestic internal free trade zone with few legal and cultural barriers to trade, in addition to plentiful natural resources. There is still nothing that rivals the US in this regard (the EU might have internal free trade in theory, but in practice there are numerous barriers), but its substantial problems in governance and large income inequality (compared to top-tier economies) more than negate these advantages.