Why China Can And America Can't ...

... seem to build a network of fast trains:

Viewed from a purely technological perspective, America's high speed rail is an embarassment compared to China's:  shaky, slow, and not particularly sleek.  But viewed in another way, our slow rail network is the price for a lot of great things about America:  our limits on government power, our democratic political system, and the fact that we're already rich enough to have an enormous amount of existing infrastructure, in the form of houses, industrial plant, and roads, that would be very expensive to tear up in the name of building rail lines.  All in all, I think these things are more valuable than even a really cool train system.

Meanwhile, Megan struggles with her free market principles while observing China's economic miracles.