[cageface]

The Western capitalist dogma is that state-run economies like those of China are inherently inefficient. But it seems to me that more and more recent evidence suggests that it may be that the partisan gridlock of Western democracies, dominated by monied interests and their lobbies, is more detrimental.

[giardini]

The "Western capitalist dogma" to which you refer applies to competitive situations. But cable and phone companies are not competitive in the U.S.A., they are monopolistic.

Read that section of a western economics text that explains monopolies for further enlightenment.

[nitrogen]

When Utah's municipally-sponsored fiber optic ISP project looked poised to become the fastest, most consumer-friendly option for Internet and TV in the state, the cable and telco companies got the state to pass a law that indirectly but effectively shut the project down. So on one hand it looks like governments can do some things right, but on the other hand regulatory capture results in the kind of deadlock you describe.

Decades from now when I near the end of my useful lifespan, I would not be in the least bit surprised to see that technological progression in the United States follows an S curve over time, with increasing life expectancy just giving even more inertia to the status quo.

[arethuza]

There are state-run organisations that are fairly efficient - the UK NHS, which is pretty much the epitome of a large socialistic undertaking, is actually pretty economically efficient. The fact that it has problems being largely because we don't spend much money on it, not because it isn't efficient in using what money we give it (at least in comparison with other healthcare systems).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/07/nhs-among-most...