It exists in an economic vacuum, impervious to competition. And therein lies the problem. Nature, like economics, abhors a vacuum. The world economy will force the oxygen of reality into the system whether we like it or not. The choice is to endure the pain of a truly two-class society, or realize that the world will only buy the best.
Quality begins and ends with people.
The only source of quality innovation is the knowledge and creativity of the working population. We have to get government out of education, because the world will not settle for the civil minimum.