EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY (CHINA EDITION): Beijing Battles Deflation Amid Skyrocketing Debt Crisis.

Now, though, it’s becoming harder for Beijing to refute evidence of deflation. Both food and car prices have dropped in the past several months, with the latter largely due to intense discounting amid price wars in the auto industry. Real estate has taken a beating; across 100 Chinese cities, the prices of homes have dropped an average of 14 percent from their peak in August 2021, and rents have fallen around 5 percent. Exports have declined as has domestic demand for Chinese-made goods.

“The reality looks increasingly grim,” economist Eswar Prasad told Foreign Policy via email, suggesting that “the government’s approach of downplaying the risks of deflation and stalling growth could backfire and make it even harder to pull the economy out of its downward spiral.”

It’s some small comfort knowing that China’s ruling class might be almost as hapless and corrupt as our own.