Yeah, President Novotný is said to have declared that semiconductors are a fad and Czechoslovakia will wait to develop "toticonductors" ("celovodiče").
That is price paid for a system that kept a totally dumb person at the head of the country for 12 years. And when we got rid of him, the Soviets arrived in their tanks to correct our heresy (1968).
As for China - TBH we do not yet know what happens within China. The flow of information is fairly restricted. A lot more of the economy is outside direct control of the Party, and those parts of the economy are likely to be fairly functional; they have to compete on the international market, after all. But within the Central Commmittee, I wouldn't be surprised if boneheadedness wasn't a significant problem. Many politicians are of the "dumb, but cunning" sort, even in the West.
That is price paid for a system that kept a totally dumb person at the head of the country for 12 years. And when we got rid of him, the Soviets arrived in their tanks to correct our heresy (1968).
As for China - TBH we do not yet know what happens within China. The flow of information is fairly restricted. A lot more of the economy is outside direct control of the Party, and those parts of the economy are likely to be fairly functional; they have to compete on the international market, after all. But within the Central Commmittee, I wouldn't be surprised if boneheadedness wasn't a significant problem. Many politicians are of the "dumb, but cunning" sort, even in the West.