China discovers how to give the economy a fillip without toppling it

The past few days have seen a shift in how China is approaching this slowdown

Fiscal and monetary measures should be deployed to give the economy a fillip when it’s most needed. The scope of tax cuts detailed over the weekend is a great first step: They boost consumers, who are now the dominant growth driver. The tax cuts might also, in the process, shore up Chinese demand for trade with the rest of Asia.

Until now, policy seemed frozen in Beijing and hamstrung by competing goals. Choices are still constrained relative to past episodes of slackening economic life, but thankfully something is giving. The bigger-than-anticipated tax changes are most likely the start of a series