Setting aside the already mentioned differences in the growth rates and phase of the catch up process, what are the main factors that underlie these differences:  BIS Review 120/2006  3  1)  Level of financial market development. Many East Asian economies and oil exporters suffer from chronic shortage of high quality domestic investment assets relative to domestic demand.
Moreover, their domestic financial systems have generally weak intermediation capacity. This phenomenon is contributing to lower interest rates in the US, thus fuelling further demand there and contributing to further build up of surpluses in the countries that satisfy this demand through their exports. As you know, e.g.