> The western economic system cannot deal with lockdowns, and more generally, any kind of stop-the-world scenarios.

I kind of disagree, though it may just be a diction issue.

I think it's the western political system and freedoms that can't enforce a lock down rather than the economic system. Countries that have aggressively locked down early, enforced that lockdown, and instituted privacy invasive tracing apps have been able to virtually eliminate the virus from within their borders.

Compare that to the US, for example, where people are insisting on their rights to not wear a mask for purposes of protecting others. It's less about economy and more about individual freedoms and lack of state power to enforce lockdowns.