STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, December 21, 2011.

[xchrom]

63. New forces are driving the world economic order

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics-blog/2011/dec/21/new-forces-world-economic-order

A new economic order is taking shape before our eyes, and it is one that includes accelerated convergence between the old western powers and the emerging world's major new players. But the forces driving this convergence have little to do with what generations of economists envisaged when they pointed out the inadequacy of the old order; and these forces' implications may be equally unsettling.

For decades, many people lamented the extent to which the west dominated the global economic system. From the governance of multilateral organisations to the design of financial services, the global infrastructure was seen as favouring western interests. While there was much talk of reform, western countries repeatedly countered serious efforts that would result in meaningful erosion of their entitlements.

On the few occasions that such resistance was seemingly overcome, the outcome was gradual and timid change. Consequently, many emerging-market economies lost confidence in the "pooled insurance" that the global system supposedly put at their disposal, especially at times of great need.

This change in sentiment was catalysed by the financial crises in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and by what many in these regions regarded as the west's inadequate and poorly designed responses. With their trust in bilateral assistance and multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund shaken, emerging-market economies – led by those in Asia – embarked on a sustained drive toward greater financial self-reliance.