I'm not so sure. Maybe in Soviet-adjacent governments this was a factor, but the US started its neoliberal turn in the 70s, when people were still operating under the assumption that the USSR would never collapse.
But it was clear by then that it wasn't going to overtake the US economically like was feared earlier. If it was clearly seen that the USSR was beating the US economically it would give lie to the whole system.
This isn't going to happen with China, unless their economy fundamentally changes.
I'm not so sure. Maybe in Soviet-adjacent governments this was a factor, but the US started its neoliberal turn in the 70s, when people were still operating under the assumption that the USSR would never collapse.
They did that due to internal factors though, to break out of stagflation
But it was clear by then that it wasn't going to overtake the US economically like was feared earlier. If it was clearly seen that the USSR was beating the US economically it would give lie to the whole system.
This isn't going to happen with China, unless their economy fundamentally changes.