Tom Friedman constantly says that he envies China for its ability to pursue “optimal policies,” as opposed to America, which is stuck with the inefficiency of democracy, which yields “sub-optimal policies.” From the Telegraph:

China’s deadly landslide ‘not an accident’
The devastating mudslide in north-west China that has killed more than 1,000 people this week was not a ‘natural’ disaster but the forseeable consequence of China’s cavalier attitude to the local environment, experts have said.
China’s government is under growing pressure over the disaster after it emerged that there had been repeated warnings of the dangers of landslides around Zhouqu following decades of mining, logging and damming rivers for hydroelectric power.
While China’s premier Wen Jiabao posed for cameras near rescuers trying to find the more than 600 still missing, local media quoted a growing chorus of experts who warned that the landslide had been “an accident waiting to happen”.A 2006 report by Lanzhou University warned of the dangers presented by the destruction of the forests around Zhouqu for mining and agriculture, causing soil erosion and destabilising hillsides.
“The hills have become highly unstable and easily subject to natural disaster of landslides and mudslides,” the report said. “The situation is the result of deforestation, exploitative mining activities, construction of hydroelectric power plants and other development activities.”
Zhouqu, once known as the “Shangri La” of Gansu Province, has suffered more than ten major landslides since 1823, but experts said the risk had been increased hugely by the felling of more than 126,000 hectares of forest between 1952 and 1990.