New consumer of last resort?
So world trade is heading for double-digit growth this year, sounds good until you consider it went through a double-digit demise last year. Still, at least things are heading in the right direction.
But this caught my eye:
The emerging markets have seen external trade pick up strongly and in some cases rapidly, unlike the developed economies. In a few instances, the export performance of emerging markets is close or above the pre-crisis levels.
OK, but if developed economies are recovering more slowly, who is buying all the stuff that is fueling the rapid increase in exports from emerging economies?
With its huge fiscal packages, China boosted not only its own economy but also intra-Asian trade. As a consequence, total export traffic from a host of Asian countries, such as Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan, grew at a double-digit pace towards the end of 2009. China’s enormous demand for goods helped fill the gap that the slump in international trade had caused in the countries of Asia.
Oh…cool. So basically where the US dropped off, China picked up. At least in Asia anyway.
A Musing 
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