Andrew Batson — Why China isn’t sending money to everyone

Global crises are revealing. How different countries are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic can tell us a lot about how their systems function. One of the most interesting differences is in how governments are offsetting the economic damage caused by extended lockdowns. Unprecedented reductions in economic activity have led many countries to rapidly adopt unprecedented policies, such as direct relief payments to households, or government grants to companies to cover worker salaries. These measures have been derided as “socialism” by some of their critics. But China, an actual socialist country, has not used them: it has not delivered any kind of broad-based grants to households. Why?.…

China is focused on productive public investment as indirect welfare that benefits the whole country, e.g., infrastructure, rather than direct welfare for individuals and families such as cash disbursements.

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Why China isn’t sending money to everyone

Andrew Batson