At first glance, however, the picture looked rather static. While the traditional financial centers in the industrialized world were prospering in an overall growing environment, and managed to defend their relative positions, emerging financial centers, particularly from Asia, were able to improve their competitiveness dramatically. It was therefore apparent that the top dogs would be facing increasing pressures to maintain their dominant positions.
For consumer goods, this can help lower inflation. For material inputs, this lowers the cost of downstream production. And for equipment, lower prices mean more capital investment, a knock-on effect that boosts productivity further. If there is a productivity revival, it will likely involve manufacturing, if history is our guide.