Frederic L. Pryor uses the concept of structural complexity to show how changes in the population, the labor force, the structure of industry, the financial system, foreign and domestic trade, and the government sector are related to the same general trend in the U.S. economic system over the past forty years and in the coming twenty years. The author investigates the impact of these changes on the functioning of the system, exploring such matters as the long-term rising unemployment rate, the alleged increasing volatility of the economy, the altering degree of competition, and the evolving economic role of the government.