This
is an age in which you will no longer have military contests between great
nations because the nations know that they will destroy each other if they do
that. But there will be economic and technological contests, and talent is the
key ingredient in those contests.———America:
Troubled But Still On Top
One
reason why China will always be a less effective magnet for talent is language.
Chinese is a much harder language to learn than English. The spoken language is
very difficult unless you learn it from a very young age. It is monosyllabic
and every word has four or five tones. And when you do not know the language,
you are unable to communicate. It becomes an enormous barrier… So in soft
power, the Chinese will not win.———America:
Troubled But Still On Top
It
is useful to remember that just as Americans tend to exaggerate their own
virtues, they sometimes exaggerate their problems too.———America: Troubled But Still On Top
The
British ran an empire for over 200 years, and had developed, as a result, an
experienced, polished style of dominance… The US became pre-eminent after the
Second World War. They had not had that long period of dominance and so they
were still brash in defending their newly won position.———America: Troubled But Still On Top
Entitlements,
once given, are notoriously difficult to take back.———Europe: Decline And Discord
[W]ork
makes the individual and society better off, and… overly generous benefits tend
to become a debilitating constraint on drive and an inadvertent suppressor of
incentives.———Europe: Decline And
Discord
The
political leadership is part of the population. If the society is in a
lethargic frame of mind, you cannot have dynamic leadership.———Japan: Strolling into Mediocrity
An
ageing population will not maintain GDP per capita. It is the young that keeps
the economy going…———Japan: Strolling
into Mediocrity