In the eight years prior, the nation simply consumed too much and borrowed too much. It fed a pseudo-expansion that was unsustainable: rising median home prices and easy credit are not growth engines. The consequent recession and near collapse of not only the U.S. financial system – but the global financial system – ended that era, and ushered in the era of the 'frugal consumer.' Americans will now spend many years - hopefully not longer five years - paying down debt: private, public, corporate.

Concomitant with this frugality is a renewed emphasis on investment. Basically, the United States is getting back to constructive economic policies that create sustainable growth, and to doing what the nation does best: innovating, re-engineering, applying ingenuity, adapting, and creating new solutions. To be sure, not all of the sectors that will be needed to serve as engines of growth have been identified yet, but these are likely to include: health care services, information technology, aerospace, infrastructure, education, renewable energy, biotechnology, and high-end/technology-intensive manufacturing.

Green tech could lead to greener balance sheets

Further, it's my firm hope that green technology - applied across the economy - will be added that list, however I'm not certain the United States is prepared to lead in green technology. But, as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman underscored, can you imagine if the United States leads in green technology --- leads in technology that produces low-emission, high-mileage cars, clean power plants, green factories, and in buildings that create a greener environment? Wow. It would be the source of tens of millions of new, domestic-based, good-paying jobs for Americans --- and a large increase in export revenue.

And the stuff of a new wave of expanding prosperity for these United States.

Financial Editor Joseph Lazzaro is writing a book on the U.S. presidency and the U.S. economy.