China’s stimulus falls short, as a showdown with Trump looms

ECONOMISTS SOMETIMES say that China suffers from the three Ds: debt, deflation and poor demography. America’s presidential election added a fourth: Donald Trump, who has threatened to slap high tariffs on Chinese exports when he returns to the White House. To counter these dangers, investors had hoped China would announce a decisive fiscal rescue package after a legislative meeting on November 8th. China’s leaders, though, seem stuck in a cautious crouch. After the meeting, the finance ministry unveiled a new plan to tackle one of the Ds: debt. But it shared no new measures that would help it beat back deflation.