The Chinese authorities may even welcome some moderation in growth. If China does suffer a serious interruption to growth at some point – and all economies do from time to time – it is more likely, in my judgement, to be caused by some domestic problem than by the sort of events we are witnessing in the developed world at present.
For Australians, it will be just as important over the years ahead to keep an eye out for imbalances in the Chinese economy as to watch the problems of the US economy. All told, it seems likely that, after several strong years, global growth will be noticeably slower in 2008.