Japan's economy has been and remains successful. Germany's is thriving as well. Unlike the trickle-down US economy, Japan and Germany have reached an economic steady state in which they don't need roaring growth rates to provide for their people, and here's why: they are better at sharing the wealth produced by their economies to foster a more broadly shared prosperity among their populaces.

But the real game is no longer strictly about economic growth; it's also about sustainability. The era of US-style trickle-down economies is over for wealthy countries because trickle-down is neither economically sound nor ecologically sustainable