Although the U.S. and some other Western democracies initially responded to Covid-19 in ineffective and incoherent ways, they ultimately benefited from a policy dialogue that included a wide range of views. Public pressure and input from nongovernmental organizations persuaded even the most vehement advocates of zero-Covid strategies in government to adopt more-balanced approaches. While messy, a vigorous policy debate often yields better results than the decisions of a closed autocracy resistant to external feedback.

The combined impact of renewed Covid lockdowns and falling real-estate valuations (not to mention government interventions that have hurt China’s tech giants and killed the private tutoring business) is slower economic growth. But given doubts about the accuracy of Chinese economic statistics, it may take some time for us to determine just how much growth is declining.

The Chinese government is addressing its current economic malaise by ramping up infrastructure investment. China’s ability to rapidly complete large projects confers an advantage over the U.S., which has largely lost the ability to build public infrastructure on schedule and on budget. But Chinese infrastructure projects vary in the amount of value they create, and the country appears to be well past the point of diminishing marginal returns.