Trading places

By World In 2012

Emerging economies will import more than the rich world in 2012

AN ENTERPRISING Englishman in the 1850s famously said that if he “could add an inch of material to every Chinaman's shirt-tail, the mills of Lancashire could be kept busy for a generation.” Sadly, those mills have since turned to rust, but in the years to come selling to China and the world's other emerging markets are expected to keep many Western firms busy for years to come. In 2012, an important new milestone will be reached when emerging-markets import more goods and services than the rich economies combined. That is a dramatic change since 2000, when they imported barely half as much as rich countries did. Policymakers will hope that the rapid growth in developing countries' buying power will boost the profits of companies in rich economies over the coming years.

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