Does the Future Belong to China? | Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

In this episode of "Interesting Times," Ross Douthat interviews Dan Wang, a research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution and author of "Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future." Wang shares his experiences living in China, highlighting the country's rapid infrastructure development and technological advancements, particularly in comparison to the United States. The discussion explores China's "engineering state" model, where engineers in the Communist Party drive economic and technological progress through central planning and fierce competition. Wang and Douthat discuss whether China's model can sustain innovation and whether the U.S. should adopt similar industrial policies. They also examine the potential downsides of China's approach, including social engineering failures like the one-child policy, and the implications of China's rise for the U.S.'s economic and military power. The conversation concludes with advice for the U.S., emphasizing the need to rebuild its manufacturing base and adapt to a world where China is a major technological and economic force.