" We're run by a combination of lawyers and lunatics; how could a society run by wise engineers not surpass us?" Well, first of all the "lunatics" running the

" We're run by a combination of lawyers and lunatics; how could a society run by wise engineers not surpass us?" Well, first of all the "lunatics" running the US (and for that matter almost all democracies) at least don't kill their own citizens for disagreeing with them. Quite an accomplishment in my view. Besides you have to put Chinas growth in perspective. They started with an economy that was closer to the mid-ages than anything. Growing from this base makes it much easier to get high percentage growth rates over the years. The GDP per capita ist still more than 12 times higher in the US than in China which as a whole is still a developing country (according to the IMF).