Passenger Trains in Mexico

Regulations, even dumb ones, are the price we pay to live in a relatively civilized, first-world society. The Chinese, on the other hand, pay little attention to such frivolities. Projects can be greenlighted and completed very quickly, at a minimum cost.

And

But the downside is that you have to live in an authoritarian dictatorship without any regard for the environment or public sentiment. Being a dictatorship has its benefits that way. Like I said, tradeoffs.

Increasingly it appears that the US is moving toward the latter, but without the public benefit of inexpensive, rapid, public transit.