The global competitiveness situation the United States finds itself in today unfortunately is very similar to claims made by Woolworth's executives in the 1960s. They, too, fatally believed that there was no need to worry about emerging competition, in their case, from Kmart and other rival stores, because Woolworths had always been number one so why worry. If the U.S. follows the same path in underestimating our competitors we could “go out of business” the same way Woolworths did.
