Why China Builds Faster Than America
China’s “engineers-in-charge” model blitzes through projects—from subways and high-speed rail to EVs and drones—while America’s lawyer-driven approach gums up the works with checks, balances, and red tape. According to Dan Wang (author of Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future), this split explains why U.S. capital markets sizzle but manufacturing powerhouses are rooted in China.
Despite Western chatter about surveillance states and social-credit dystopias, China’s low-friction decision-making fuels rapid growth—at the expense of some legal safeguards. Wang’s takeaway? The U.S. needs about 20% more engineering gusto, and China could benefit from roughly 50% more rights-protecting legalism.
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