This is only true if you ignore the important material and historical factors that go into the success of a country. Like for example, the immense wealth of natural resources and variation in climates that the US has. Or how about escaping much of the devastation that Europe faced in WW2 and benefiting immensely from helping them rebuild. Or having (for the most part) incredibly safe and stable relationships with neighbors to the north and south. Free markets have certainly contributed to success, but to say it's the only unique thing about America is just wrong.

This is painfully naive.

Simple, obvious contradiction: can every country enjoy the benefits of issuing the de facto reserve currency for the world? Just by having free markets?

The US has been incredibly privileged. I’d argue that was earned in some ways and lucky in others. But it’s undeniably true.

>The only unique thing about America is free markets

This is less unique than the dollar being the dominant reserve currency and dominant currency for settling international trade.

Free markets are the end state, not what is required to become successful. We can see this in countries that have prospered over the last century.

Japan and South Korea both had huge land reforms effectively killing the landlord class and redistributing farms to families.

They then forced businesses to export while maintaining high tariffs and once that was all in place they relaxed the tarifs and opened up the markets.

Countries that took the free market approach include Indonesia and Cambodia.

I would say that the dollar being the global reserve currency is a unique privilege, yes.

> The only unique thing about America is free markets

Is that unique to America? I'm in EU, I thought we had free markets too.

> The more free market a country is, the more it prospers.

Some countries, including the US, reached prosperity by protecting their markets.

Besides the many factors (e.g. reserve currency) others have already mentioned, here's another one:

Digital services not being taxed/tariffed when exported whereas physical goods are, is purely a historical artifact. The US has managed to get the whole world addicted to their doomscrolling dopamine algorithms, raking in trillions of dollars. If these were physical goods, this would've been entirely different.

The heroine dealer of the world. So far they've been allowed this position, which is incredibly privileged. And now that the EU sometimes takes a (paltry) step towards slightly taxing the drugs, the dealer screams and kicks, "it's unfair! They're targeting just me!".

America was uniquely positioned due to the dollar being the world's most desired reserve currency. This enabled the USA to spend far beyond what it produced.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exorbitant_privilege

Not sure is this is what OP meant, but it's a huge advantage that the current administration seems bent on getting rid of

> There's a common thread across the world and history. The more free market a country is, the more it prospers.

As long as the trend of capitalist market+power consolidation is considered to be 'less free market', I think I'd agree with you.

- Sincerely, an otherwise raging leftie

> Any country can become highly successful by enacting free markets.

And the existence proof for that assertion is which country, exactly? Lots of nations lack regulation of some form or another, many of them are "freer" than the US. The US isn't entirely "free" of trade barriers either (c.f. tariffpocalype).

Basically this sounds like a no-true-scotsman in the making. No, it's not that simple.