How the U.S. Stacks Up to China’s ‘Engineering State’

In this episode of Bold Names, Christopher Mims interviews Dan Wang, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of "Breakneck China's Quest to Engineer the Future," about the competition between the U.S. and China. Wang argues that China operates as an "engineering state," prioritizing building and infrastructure projects, while the U.S. is a "lawyerly society" encumbered by regulations and legal processes that slow down development. They discuss examples such as China's rapid high-speed rail construction versus California's delayed project, and the decline of U.S. manufacturing. Wang highlights the excesses of China's social engineering, including the one-child policy and zero-COVID lockdowns, while also noting the U.S.'s dependence on China for critical goods like rare earth magnets and antibiotics. He suggests the U.S. needs to balance its lawyerly approach with a more robust state capable of building essential infrastructure and protecting its industrial base, while China needs to incorporate more legal protections and individual rights.