It's not that our leaders are uniquely bad (do you think the CCP leaders are better?) but that the incentives for that kind of economic development aren't there.

Largely due to, as you point out, special interests.

EDIT: judging by the comments everyone here seems to love China

> do you think the CCP leaders are better?

Based on their public statements and policy actions, absolutely. America these days sounds and behaves like a country being run by absolute cretins.

At a 30,000 foot view the purpose of politics is to keep corrupt people and stupid people away from the levers of power. Voting is one possible way, fiat is another.

Readers can assess for themselves the degree to which the U.S. government has done this, as well as the CCP.

By the way Sortition, which is picking random people to run government for a period of time, would probably be better than what we have now in my opinion. We are worse than random.

> judging by the comments everyone here seems to love China

It is possible both to be impressed by China's accomplishments over the past 30 years while remaining critical about its imperfections (and America's as well). It's not about "loving China;" it's about being open-minded, objective, and thorough in considering the matter.

CCP leaders are largely technocrats unlike in the US. There are many engineers and doctors in the upper ranks.

I think phrases like 'love China' set this up as an emotional argument when it isn't one.

I have no idea what China or Chinese leaders are like. I have no relation to China.

However, I can say that their policy choices on these technical issues are better than ours. The only emotion I feel when saying this is disappointment in my own country, rather than pride in China. I wish America had more energy production. Almost all American problems are the result of lacking energy production capacity.

"do you think the CCP leaders are better?"

Yes, unambiguously. They appear to be aggressively investing in collaborative foreign policy projects globally, have a stellar track record when it comes to not starting random wars around the world, and their economic planning and engagement with decarbonization efforts massively outshine the US.