O'Neill said the U.S. economy began slowing last August and September, mostly due to firms trying to manage slowing consumer demand and rising inventories.
He also described the bursting of the high-technology "bubble" as a result of "people (getting) tired of believing the rhetoric," about not needing profits.
O'Neill said "it was never true" that a company did not need to have a profit, but could prosper by simply having lots of customers. However, the U.S. economy has probably only seen 20 pct of the productivity gains from applying new technologies, O'Neill said, predicting an "unprecedented period of prosperity" ahead.
O'Neill noted that if a higher growth scenario is realised in coming years, this will generate even higher budget surpluses.
Even if the U.S. does not use tax revenue to pay down debt, O'Neill said the 2.5 trln usd in projected Social Security surpluses will probably come close to retiring the "reducible" amount of public debt outstanding.
The U.S. has in front of it "a golden era of economic prosperity," O'Neill said.