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What the U.S. Can Learn from China’s Infatuation with Infrastructure

3 points by supernova87a 6y ago

supernova87a 6y ago
Alternate link: https://archive.is/5RcUw https://archive.is/5RcUw I have been interested for a while in the phenomenon of why some countries are led by engineers, and some by lawyers, and whether it really makes any difference. Perhaps it isn't so much a determining input function, but a reflection of whether a country's needs are material/get-us-out-of-technological-poverty, versus established-wealth/manage-our-conflicting-interests in its evolutionary stage? Although as some people note, the US has been generally lawyer-led since the beginning.
- rkagerer 6y ago
  What countries are "led by engineers"?
  - mytailorisrich 6y ago
    You could say that China is (I think that's what supernova87a is implying). Many of the top people studied science and engineering. A quick search: Xi Jinping studied chemical engineering, Li Kejiang, studied Law and Economics, Hu Jintao studied water engineering, Wen Jiabao studied geomechanics. So that's 3 out of 4 of the top leadership of the last 15 years. Before that, Jiang Zemin was an electrical engineering graduate, which means that all leaders in the last 30 years (i.e. since Deng Xiaoping) have had an engineering background. This is probably influenced by the political environment. There is no doubt that this has an impact on policy.
simonblack 6y ago
"Infatuation" has a negative connotation. Infrastructure is generally built and well-maintained when the country has lots of spare money. Like the US in the 1950s and 1960s. And like China today. When countries get short of cash, they tend to let maintenance of infrastructure lapse. It's roughly estimated that to fix the US's crumbling infrastructure it would cost about 2-3 trillion dollars. That's 2-3 trillion dollars that the US doesn't have easily to hand.
- mytailorisrich 6y ago
  The US made a political decision. They certainly have the financial means but they decided against spending on infrastructure. Obviously with time this means that the cost of repairs accrues.

3 points by supernova87a 6y ago

Alternate link: https://archive.is/5RcUw https://archive.is/5RcUw I have been interested for a while in the phenomenon of why some countries are led by engineers, and some by lawyers, and whether it really makes any difference. Perhaps it isn't so much a determining input function, but a reflection of whether a country's needs are material/get-us-out-of-technological-poverty, versus established-wealth/manage-our-conflicting-interests in its evolutionary stage? Although as some people note, the US has been generally lawyer-led since the beginning.

rkagerer 6y ago
What countries are "led by engineers"?
- mytailorisrich 6y ago
  You could say that China is (I think that's what supernova87a is implying). Many of the top people studied science and engineering. A quick search: Xi Jinping studied chemical engineering, Li Kejiang, studied Law and Economics, Hu Jintao studied water engineering, Wen Jiabao studied geomechanics. So that's 3 out of 4 of the top leadership of the last 15 years. Before that, Jiang Zemin was an electrical engineering graduate, which means that all leaders in the last 30 years (i.e. since Deng Xiaoping) have had an engineering background. This is probably influenced by the political environment. There is no doubt that this has an impact on policy.

simonblack 6y ago

"Infatuation" has a negative connotation. Infrastructure is generally built and well-maintained when the country has lots of spare money. Like the US in the 1950s and 1960s. And like China today. When countries get short of cash, they tend to let maintenance of infrastructure lapse. It's roughly estimated that to fix the US's crumbling infrastructure it would cost about 2-3 trillion dollars. That's 2-3 trillion dollars that the US doesn't have easily to hand.

mytailorisrich 6y ago
The US made a political decision. They certainly have the financial means but they decided against spending on infrastructure. Obviously with time this means that the cost of repairs accrues.