Leapfrogging

The Chinese government makes a major commitment to try to jump into the lead on electric cars. It's not fully clear whether this will work because China lags in more than engines, but the commitment is big, near term, and will carry the reputation of the party's leadership, so they are going to put a whole lot into getting there.

Related: (Reuters) "General Motors Corp (GM.N) has asked for $2.6 billion of low interest government loans to support the development of three new hybrid vehicles..."

And, an interesting NYTimes piece on China's new world position.