sunsetlover

Have the Seeds for Decoupling Been Sown?

"the things Asians might want to consume aren't necessarily the things they produce to export,..."

The problem is not that they don't want to consume what they produce to export, it's just that they can't afford them. In many Asian countries (except Japan and Korea) the purchasing power parity of the vast majority of the population is 1/10 of that in the US and European Union. Anyone who has traveled in Asia knows, or should know, that what a Westerner spends for 4 nights in a 4 or 5-star hotel there equals an average office worker local monthly salary. Which brings us to the other problem Asia faces: declining dollar reserves and revenue due to rapidly declining tourism.