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Comment by melling | Hacker News Reader

Regardless, it's interesting how China is accelerating past the US on the world stage. Clean energy, high speed rail, etc. So, much is accomplished in so little time. One example, that always sticks in my mind:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Metro

I wonder how that couple miles of the Second Avenue Subway is coming along?

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Right now, on the energy side, one can't really compare the US and China. The US is an already developed country, with considerable infrastructure deployed during the past 50-100 years and well established incumbent players, a region with low/single digit growth, etc. China on the other hand is a huge market, until recently with little or no energy infrastructure, fuelled by a rapidly growing domestic consumption, etc.

China has the need to accelerate and be extremely fast in all aspects of its economy, otherwise it is risking not growing at all, with devastating effects to its economy (and the world).

It's easy to build infrastructure quickly when you don't have to bother with property rights, worker safety or environmental impact assessments.

Eminent Domain is a very real and oft-used legal power that is given, especially by individual states in the US to seize property for whatever "public use" those governments deem worthy, including (but not limited to) road widening, infrastructure (sewer, electric, telecom fibre) improvements, and even private enterprise that trumps individual rights "for the greater good".

Please don't think that China holds exclusive dominion over such a concept.

I don't know that the two would be quite the same in practice though. It's likely that public reaction would be more of an issue in the US, etc?

And if you have a virtually limitless supply of money.

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