The China cup - half full or half empty?

In the midst of the global economic slowdown presently being witnessed, developing Asian countries - in particular India and China - have been the strong survivors, maintaining economic growth well above that of developed Western countries. In so doing they are acting in the sole supporting role of providing “reasonable” overall economic growth on the world stage.

Can these countries continue this strong trend in isolation of global debt crisis-infused economic slowing elsewhere, or has their strong economic starting point merely provided a short-term cushion to shield them from the immediate trade-related impacts of reduced consumer spending, high energy prices and increased debt funding costs doing damage to major trading partners?

To a... ...more