Yep. But the funny thing is — strictly in terms of progress — it doesn’t matter. “If America doesn’t do it, then nobody will do it” is no longer true. If we don’t invent the next supercomputer, then somebody else will invent it. If we don’t do genetic engineering, then someone else will. If America doesn’t want to pour a ton of public money into pure research, then somebody else will — and reap the benefits.
So we can just party and let the Asians do all the brain work, and it won’t hurt us a bit?