About ten years ago I read a book about the Great Chinese Famine. One story I remember is that the so-called scientists of the Communist regime claimed they ha

About ten years ago I read a book about the Great Chinese Famine. One story I remember is that the so-called scientists of the Communist regime claimed they had produced a new way to grow wheat so that it was much denser, both as a way to prove the superiority of the Communist system vs. Western capitalism, and as a way to head off any rumors of famine. This wheat was so dense, the Chinese government claimed, one could stand on top of the wheat field without falling to the ground. In the book was an old black and white photo of two Chinese children apparently doing just that: standing on top of a wheat field. But the caption explained that actually there was a step ladder underneath them placed there to produce the illusion. I'm not trying to draw any parallels between the above story and the linked article, besides the fact that the latter made me remember the former. It's hard to say whose economy is most like that wheat field these days.