[mellosouls]

a culture that values technology, innovation, tolerance for risk

Many other cultures have the same, perhaps to a lesser extent, but balanced in that regard (say) by more rights for workers or protection from corporate abuse or a higher quality of life.

world class academic institutions, by far the most of any other country

Depends how you look at it - for example, per capita the UK has more Top 10 universities than the USA.

articles that portray some short of US demise or structural decline are more journalistic clickbait than anything else

It's important to take a balanced view on these things; a US decline is probably simplistic as you indicate - but a rose-tinted view of it is just as unhelpful.