Trump expects quick economic comeback from coronavirus, but China’s incomplete recovery hints at long-lasting problems

Washington Post logoPresident has said he envisions a V-shaped rebound from recession’s depths. Experts say damage could drag into 2021.

Two of President Trump’s closest advisers on Tuesday predicted the economy will roar back to life later this year, even as China’s sluggish recovery from the coronavirus shows such optimism might be misplaced.

With China’s months-long outbreak apparently contained, most factories and businesses there have reopened. But fears of a fresh wave of infections led the government last week to reimpose travel restrictions in Wuhan, where the pandemic began, and order the closure of several hundred movie theaters that had just reopened for the first time since January.

The halting Chinese recovery offers sobering lessons for U.S. policymakers about what is shaping up to be a more protracted economic convalescence than the White House wants, according to business executives and economists. Continue reading.