Much was made of China “missing” its 2014 growth target, by one tenth of a percentage point. (Let us in Australia hope our target misses are all only of that size.) Much was also made of the lower target set for 2015, but this was always going to occur, and successive growth objectives are likely to get progressively lower over the years ahead.
This involves such elements as a secure system for large-value payments, deposit insurance, bankruptcy laws, central bank provision of liquidity, and sound risk-management practices, including capital cushions and prudential regulation. Let me be very clear, the goal of these shock absorbers is not to prevent losses, but to absorb them without impairing the effective functioning of credit markets and the financial system in general.