How the West was lost

Last week, Dambisa Moyo has published yet another provocative book in which she conjures a rather dark future for the now developed countries. In "How the West Was Lost", she argues that the West has wasted its economic advantage, instead embarking on flawed economic policies and - simply - decadence. A review by Paul Collier, usually known for his overconfident interpretation of correlations, was published in last weekend's Observer. To give you a better feel for Moyo's developmentalist argument, here are some fragments of his review:

"Among parents she sees folly as they collude in their children's fantasies of becoming sporting or entertainment celebrities rather than getting down to the hard grind of learning how to be productive [...] , she sees public policy in the west hamstrung by an obsession with individual rights and a reluctance to face reality [...]  In contrast to the lousy infrastructure of the US and Britain, China is building high-speed railways. As a result of our investment parsimony and Chinese investment profligacy, the current generation of westerners can consume at a level far above that of the Chinese. But will our grandchildren congratulate us on being so smart?" 

Velichka and I have discussed similar points when comparing anecdotal evidence from Bulgaria and China (not sure why we have chosen these two cases). I would like to know what the others (particularly Mike, being our US correspondent) think about this? Let me add two related questions:

First, is development not (if we follow Sen etc.) about enlarging individual freedom? In other words, is the shifting emphasis towards individual rights and well-being (e.g. wasting time on writing this blog instead of producing steel) not a desirable step once a certain stage of development is reached? Second, is development a zero-sum game or win-win game? Often, the discussion about Asia's rise is associated with world systems jargon (centre of economic activity moving to China, marginalizing Europe). Does China's rise necessarily mean the demise of other countries? Hope to hear some comments!