Given the ongoing shift in the world economy’s centre of gravity towards Asia, the direction of this change is not at all surprising. Many countries would be seeing the weight of their trade shifting in the same direction as ours.
*  *  *  Our day-by-day experiences with the effectiveness of flexible markets as they adjust to, and correct, imbalances can readily lead us to the mistaken conclusion that once markets are purged of rigidities, macroeconomic disturbances will become a historical relic. However, the penchant of humans for quirky, often irrational behavior gets in the way of this conclusion.