Will China Survive? Will the United States?

Andrew Sullivan points to this article on China, which I think is much too sanguine. But he also points to this follow up and this disturbingly accurate assessment

There are plenty of examples of American companies that are making creative use of the crisis. The New York Times had an excellent article on talent scouts on Sunday. But there are equally depressing examples of America bailing out old companies and allocating talent to make-work jobs in the public sector. America's comparative advantage has always lain in its superior ability to make creative use of disruption; if the Chinese are mastering that art, while the Americans are losing their taste for it, then the country really is in trouble.

I read this just after reading about how Barack Obama now wants to bail out automobile parts suppliers as well as the big auto companies and how Congress has funded the big expansion in goverment "volunteer" programs that Obama called for.