In my understanding, Microsoft turns out not to be such a great example, either, because it was also a government creation, albeit less directly. Microsoft achieved its present position because the U.S. government decided early on to use Microsoft products. It is such a giant consumer, one which also requires communication with everybody else, that better products were forced out. I always thought WordPerfect far superior to Microsoft Word, and most other WordPerfect users thought so, too; but, with all my other correspondents using Word, I had to switch. Microsoft dominance also helped PCs displace Macs.
It isn't preordained that the U.S. should be best in the hi-tech field. It is perhaps inevitable that labor-intensive enterprises should shift to less wealthy economies. But the U.S. will retain preeminence in any case in the things it does best--waging wars on drugs, terrorism, poverty. . . .
I don't see any defense against depression. It looks to me as though things are soon going to get much worse, for a long time.
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