The top spot now belongs to China. Is anyone surprised about this? The only real surprise is that it didn't happen sooner.
America (which is nominally capitalist) now resembles Harrison Bergeron in that it imposes extensive and burdensome controls over every aspect of our lives -- forcible re-distribution of wealth to subsidize business and personal failures, a central bank that arbitrarily sets the interest rate, over 80,000 pages of regulations in the Federal Register, untold numbers of regulations in each of the 50 states, endless lawsuits that produce extortionate settlements or outrageous judgments, and the general inability of the ordinary citizen to plan his affairs given the renegade activity of the warlords calling themselves the government. Indeed, it is almost impossible for an American to set foot outside his door today without breaking some law or incurring some liability. Add to this the stultifying and ubiquitous religion of political correctness, and it's a wonder that we even hold second place.
China (which is nominally communist) is freer than we are, and freedom produces prosperity. It was decades ago when China rejected Maoism and figured out that central planning doesn't work. Millions of people died under the regime of Mao Tse-tung, yet America actively pursues Mao's philosophy. It is no coincidence that a prominent member of the Obama administration praised Mao. This could be the result of ignorance, but it also could be the result of a desire to pursue something other than prosperity (i.e., power).
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