Shanghai officials seem to have been surprised by how quickly Omicron went out of control in the city. Given their usually very high level of bureaucratic competence that is worrisome. It is also a bit surprising to see that officials, who spend lots of time studying some topics, like Xi Jinping Thought, do not seem to have spent a lot of time learning the lessons from other cities, and so we are again seeing some issues around food provision and access to medical care, this time in Shanghai.

The Politburo Standing Committee must have known things were about to get much worse when they convened on March 17. At the time some saw the comments about epidemic prevention work as a sign of a shift towards loosening of “dynamic Zero Covid”, but in retrospect it looks like they were preparing for a significantly more difficult time in epidemic prevention work and the resulting economic impact.

Today’s Essential Eight:

1. Shanghai outbreak

2. More concerns about capital outflows

3. Ukraine crisis

4. EU-China …