Re: Shoot foot, then head
Presumably, if it hadn't been for Mao's own assault on the countries limbs through the GLF and the cultural revolution (what great benefits that brought to science in China), China would have made even faster progress.
Even so, I think the bigger problem with the Big Baby's™ current approach is how it is driving current trade partners closer to China. The US can still apply a lot of pressure through the dollar hegemony, so it's obvious that everyone is now working out how to work around this.
America didn't win the cold war because it had better spooks, but because it traded more freely. Still you can't expect Mr Short Attention Span to appreciate this.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
