Can you echo a type in TypeScript?

As far as I'm aware there is nothing in TypeScript like:

type TypeA = { x: number };
printType(TypeA);

Here is the only approach I've found to consistently get TypeScript to output a description of a type.

const y = {
    x: 1,
    z: 'hello',
};

const z: never = y;

Attempting to assign to a never type will always print an error and the error mentions the type of the value being assigned.

Type '{ x: number; z: string; }' is not assignable to type 'never'.

This approach is limited because it requires a real variable.

Is there really no other way?

You won't be able to do this at runtime, because TypeScript types are necessarily erased at runtime. Consequently, you'll only be able to do this in your IDE or as part of the compilation process, before TypeScript becomes runnable JavaScript. Your workaround of emitting this as a compilation error is effective because it happens during compile; there's no way using official TS to make it work at runtime.

That said, the availability of tsserver has made it easy for many IDEs to integrate type information. That page also includes some sample integrations, though many others are available. Foremost in those is Microsoft's own Visual Studio Code, which offers both IntelliSense (popups, hover-over, and code completion) and inlay hints (parameter and type information rendered inline as if written explicitly).

Finally, a documentation-oriented language extension called Twoslash makes explicit requests to the IDE to display the type inline. This works much like the inlay hints above but is opt-in for points you specify. It is available automatically in TypeScript Playground and extensions are available to add Twoslash support to VSCode.

const a = { b: 3, c: "hello" };

console.log(a);
//          ^? [const a: { b: number, c: string }]

As in the playground link, the type annotation in the square brackets is added and updated automatically.