China’s economy is trapped in a downward spiral that authoritarian regimes are doomed to repeat

Chinese President Xi Jinping walks to the Monument to the People’s Heroes during a ceremony at Tiananmen Square, on the eve of National Day on September 30, 2018 in Beijing, China. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images China is suffering from “economic long COVID,” Adam Posen wrote in Foreign Affairs. Its sluggish post-COVID rebound may be a long-term trend, said the Peterson Institute’s president. Like other authoritarian regimes, China’s economic development is following a predictable pattern, he noted. China’s economy can rightly be compared to COVID cases where symptoms keep lingering and leave the infected weak for the long term, an expert wrote…