This reminds me of a quip from Mike Davis, the Left has successfully predicted the last 6 Depressions during the last century.
 I respect Wolff and enjoy his analysis but the major determinant of this topic is the position of the dollar as the world reserve currency. Between that and the primacy of Treasury bonds in the world economy, I cannot imagine the empire collapsing rapidly. Unless China unveils and rapidly proliferates two alternative devices within the world economy, the American hegemon will remain