Of course, it was not possible to avoid discussion of Europe, the US and elsewhere with clients as I travelled, especially as there is so much in the news about them. I shall touch on those parts of the world briefly before I turn to Asia. Before I do that, to emphasize the relative importance of regions for just this second decade of the century, let me repeat something key from our economic assumptions that I occasionally refer to. We are assuming that the eight economies we define as “Growth Economies” – Brazil, Russia, India, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey – will contribute around $15 trillion in real terms to the world this decade. This contribution will allow for faster, yes faster global GDP growth of around 4.2% than for each of the past three decades. Of this $15 trillion, one-half will come from China, and another quarter of the total will come from the other Asian Growth Economies. This $15 trillion total will be more than twice that of Europe and the US combined. The Next 11 (N-11) economies, which as well as including South Korea and Indonesia, include another four Asian economies – Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam – will contribute nearly as much as the G7 and more than either the US or Europe.

More Mixed Signals in the US

As we await the all important payrolls and ISM data, last week was another mixed week in terms of data with only the drop in weekly job claims to encourage the optimists and the notable weakness in durable goods, the highlight to excite the bears.

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