From Ascendancy to Ambition: The United States’ Rise (1860–2000) and China’s Parallel Pursuit (2005–2025)
The U.S. rose from 1860 to 2000 through policies, finance, and innovation, catching up (1860–1900) with tariffs (47%) and railroads (190,000 miles), forging ahead (1900–1945) via Federal Reserve and WWII ($50 billion Lend-Lease), and soaring (1945–2000) with GI Bill (8 million educated) and internet ($500 billion). China’s 2005–2025 ascent ($2.3 to $18 trillion GDP) mirrors this via Five-Year Plans, rail (100,000 miles), and 1.5 million patents, but state control and 2% yuan share diverge from U.S. openness and dollar dominance (70%). From 1860–1900, U.S. steel (10 million tons) and New York’s $15 billion market outpaced Britain; China’s steel (50% global) and Shanghai ($10 trillion) echo this, but IP issues lag U.S. patents. From 1900–1945, U.S. autos and Bretton Woods led; China’s EVs (40% sales) and BRI ($1 trillion) parallel, but censorship slows tech. Post-1945, U.S. R&D ($100 billion) drove computing; China’s $600 billion leads AI, but brain drain (100,000 STEM) hinders. By 2...