Rapid Progress or Restrictions?
In his book, "Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future", Dan Wang, a Hoover Institution research fellow and former technology analyst for Gavekal Dragonomics, delves into the contrasting governance cultures of China and America.
Wang, in his analysis, describes China as an "engineering state" and America as a "lawyerly society". He argues that to overcome the proceduralism that he sees as ailing America, the country must remember its heritage of engineering and elevate a greater diversity of voices among its elites.
The book highlights Shenzhen, a city in China, as a global innovation hub, while criticising the Chinese Communist Party for regulating society as if it's a series of pipes. Conversely, Wang describes a loose circle of bloggers in China, known as the Industrial Party, who are labelled as modern fascists in his book. These commentators and intellectuals promote a strong industrial policy and nationalist economic ideas.
Despite China's rapid physical development, productivity gains, and wealth accumulation, Wang's analysis suggests that China's fixation on numeric targets and disregard for organic human bonds make it too rigid to allow the Chinese people to live happily. He uses China's one-child policy and zero-Covid policy to demonstrate the engineering state's catastrophic downside.
The Sentimentalists, a group that resonates with much that is recognizable in America, are the group opposed by the Industrial Party, according to the book. They indulge in liberal pieties and are seen as a hindrance to America's ambition.
Wang does not expect China to surpass America across the board. He warns that China's industrial might could overwhelm all rich countries. However, the book aims to explain the strengths and weaknesses of both countries, offering tepid prescriptions for overcoming lawyerliness in America and confronting progressive sentimentalism.
Jordan McGillis, the economics editor of City Journal and a 2025-2026 Novak Journalism Fellow, provides insightful commentary on the book, suggesting that for America to become a place where big things are built and ambition stirs, it must not only overcome the proceduralism decried by Wang, but also triumph over the progressive sentimentalism the authors decline to confront.
