Tillerson, a diplomatic neophyte who has no policymaking experience, has struggled just to win approval for his choices at the State Department, where not a single senior position has been filled much less confirmed, which itself is a time-consuming process.
The economy was slowing, the banks were in trouble again, and policymaking had all but come to a halt.
Christopher Balding, a professor of finance and economics at Peking University's HSBC business school, said Beijing's economic flip-flopping and "wild swings in policymaking" had severely damaged confidence.
Governments engaged in higher education policymaking have frequently used the "big public review" to create political cover, using independent groups of experts – rather than ministers – to suggest unpopular policies.
His technocratic style to policymaking had some advantages, especially when making decisions about defence acquisitions, but it could also lead to grotesque excesses, such as the use of body counts as a measure of success and failure in the Vietnam war.
