Earlier quoted context omitted.
The common connection between companies that don't do so well is corruption, not previous government choices. As far as following Adam Smith's works, the economy the US has is a caricature of Smith's ideas (e.g. Smith was anti-monopoly).
1. Do you think that the form of a government does not affect its tendency toward corruption? 2. Note that I was talking about Smith's influence on early US government. The nation has obviously strayed from that quite a lot since then -- and has economically gone downhill quite a lot, as well.
The US is kind of a special case I think. They have an absolutely enormous government that few people trust and even fewer think anything can be done to change it. Sweden, for contract, is voted the most Democratic country. Given the size of their government, this seems to imply that they are much more positive about it.