[fmajid]

Except it’s been loosened after decades, and suddenly the economy tanks?

The more likely explanation is Xi’s authoritarianism and crackdown on the private sector. Anyone with a brain in China is trying to get their money and themselves out of the country.

[RugnirViking]

It has been loosened because of the inevitable damage it is causing. Look at china's demographic pyramid. Their widest demography is 45-60. Their birthrates are very low. As those people age and there are fewer workers entering the workforce it will lead to social problems (as it did in japan and currently is in the west)

That's not to say there isnt a big crackdown on just about everything right now. There is. Bankers forced to read xi jinping thought and write essays on it monthly etc.

[tjpnz]

One thing didn't cause the other but it needs to be considered when looking longterm. Its effect will have an impact on the economy for many decades.

[fmajid]

Of course, demography is destiny, but the point is the sudden worsening of China's economic outlook did not coincide with tightening of the one-child policy, quite the opposite. The challenge for China is that it got old before it got rich like the European nations or Japan, and this transition will be much harder to navigate.

[The_Colonel]

The bigger challenge is that the demigraphic shift is much more dramatic than either Europe or Japan.

The fertility rate was 6 in 1970, it dropped to a half within a decade and then kept dropping rapidly.