China's economic mandarins are proving to be human after all

``Over the past 30 years, the technocrats in Beijing have attained an almost mythical status. Decade after decade of rapid growth has transformed China into the world's second biggest economy, slashing poverty at the same time. There was much admiration -- and not a little envy -- in the west for the way in which communist party officials quickly lifted China out of recession following the financial crisis of 2008. The fact that policymaking was so opaque added to the mystique. But those golden days are now over... ''