From the distance of a crisis-hit Euroland or a near static United States, Asia's economies still look good. But the closer one gets to individual countries the less appealing they seem. For a start, de-coupling from the west and hitching the wagon to China is being exposed as a half truth at best. Year-on-year trade numbers for export-oriented Asia still look good with double digit growth showing for most of them. But take a closer look and several countries are looking as though they have already reached a plateau. That is especially so for Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. They have benefited from strong commodity prices but volume exports appear stagnant at best.
No Reason for Asia to Be Smug
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From the distance of a crisis-hit Euroland or a near static United States, Asia's economies still look good. But the closer one gets to individual countries the less appealing they seem. For a start, de-coupling from the west and hitching the wagon to China is being exposed as a half truth at best. Year-on-year trade numbers for export-oriented Asia still look good with double digit growth showing for most of them. But take a closer look and several countries are looking as though they have already reached a plateau. That is especially so for Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. They have benefited from strong commodity prices but volume exports appear stagnant at best.
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