The time of outperforming Chinese growth is com- ing to an end. There will be a temporary growth surge whenever the global economy can put COVID-19 in the rearview mirror and, of course, the Communist Party can announce whatever it pleases whenever it pleases. But advocates for Chi- nese economic policies have lost the long-standing debate over whether the country will get old before it gets rich.1 The most likely answer for when the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will be truly rich is “not while any of us are alive.”
