Looking at American history, there is a very critical turning point: Roosevelt abandoning the gold standard.

If they had stubbornly clung to the gold standard back then, the U.S. really could have collapsed during the Great Depression—there would have been farmer uprisings, debt chains breaking, and society would have been torn apart.
But once they abandoned the gold standard, monetary expansion occurred, prices rebounded, and the economy immediately stopped the bleeding.

The lesson is actually very simple:
In an era of rapid productivity growth, if the money supply doesn’t expand, the economy will run into problems.

Now, AI-driven productivity is on the eve of taking off, and the supply side will only get bigger and bigger.
In this context, mild inflation is not an issue at all; in fact, it’s a normal phenomenon.
The real fear is deflation, not inflation.

That’s also why I’m not at all worried about some “major crisis” in the U.S.
The dollar can spill over, the population can be supplemented by immigration, and the innovation cycle is still strengthening.
Both fiscal and monetary policy can backstop things at any time.
The real U.S. strategy is:
Use growth + mild inflation to gradually wear down debt.

On the contrary, it’s China that deserves more caution.
It’s not a debt issue, but a “deflationary lack of demand”:
Population decline, real estate deleveraging, weak credit and consumption,
Even if money is made available, there may not be anyone willing to take it.
This is the most troublesome kind described in economics textbooks.

Duan Yongping’s asset allocation advice is golden: half S&P 500 ETF, half Berkshire Hathaway.