It’s hard to learn what’s going on in China, and it’s getting harder. Data series that show anything unfavorable are suppressed or discontinued, and journalists who might write something negative are increasingly unwelcome. But there is every reason to think that China’s forty-year economic boom at the minimum is stalling out, and indeed its economy may be headed for a major crash.

The Wall Street Journal has two significant pieces on this subject in the last two days: from yesterday, a long front-page news article with the headline “China’s 40-Year Boom Is Over. What Comes Next?”; and today, a lead editorial “The Electric-Vehicle Bubble Starts to Deflate.” (Both are probably behind the pay wall.).

But before discussing those in more detail, let’s review the important background. China’s economy took off in the 1980s when then-leader Deng Xiaoping loosened state controls and allowed a private sector to grow and flourish. Current leader Xi Jinping, who assumed power in 2013, has reversed that policy and increasingly tightened state control and direction of the economy, particularly since his second term began in 2018.

Are there any lessons that we in the U.S. and the rest of the West should be learning here?