Dear booming Chinese economy of the past: Bye-bye, the West shan't miss you

Open this photo in gallery: A worker commutes in front of the under-construction Guangzhou Evergrande football stadium in Guangzhou, China, on Sept. 17, 2021.NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images John Rapley is a political economist at the University of Cambridge and managing director of Seaford Macro. After a summer filled with speculation about China's sinking economy, recent news lifted some of the gloom. In reports that came out mid-September, both factory output and retail sales turned back up. Cue the celebrations that China is back and will lift the world economy, as it did after the 2008 financial crisis. But just as reports…