  The U.S. astronomy decadal surveys have been models for advice to government
on how to apportion resources to optimise the scientific return on national
investments in facilities and manpower. The U.S. is now gearing up to conduct
its 2020 survey and the results are likely to guide international astronomy far
into the future. Here, I summarize the current strains in an otherwise
world-leading program of ground- and space-based astronomical discovery and
some of the issues that will be faced by the participants in this upcoming
collective exercise.
