We must try to learn from China – their economy is larger now than it was before the virus struck

We do not need to lose our self-confidence in the way we run our economies. But we do have more to learn, writes Hamish McRae

China has come through this pandemic better than the US (EPA)

It looks very much as though China will emerge the big economic winner from the Covid-19 crisis.

It is galling to have to acknowledge this, given that the country was slow to report the severity of the crisis and the origins of the virus remain unclear. It is also troubling for those of us who believe that representative democracy, for all its roughness, is more likely to bring prosperity and decency to most people’s lives than an autocratic government such as that of China.

It is particularly troubling for Americans right now because, whoever wins the presidential election, the new administration will have to start from the position that China has come through this one better than the US and will have to ask why that has happened.