[isityettime]

> If the Chinese government can just throw money at industries and have them flourish, why can't other governments?

One possibility that seems likely to me: it takes longer than a single election cycle for an investment like that to bear fruit. And you have to be willing to admit that some bets the state places will lose. This is harder in the kind of democracy and political climate that the US currently has. China's government has more continuity of leadership and a strong emphasis on stability that seem hard to achieve in the US without a lot more political cohesion and more nuanced opposition than the two-party system currently affords.

If we could achieve it, though, it'd be awesome. Some "best of both worlds" stuff.