Fair economies, foul markets

Tumbling markets are sometimes good predictors of an economic turndown. But not always. The current fall, for example, looks more like a punishment of the collective folly of investors than any sort of prophecy. But an uncontrolled market decline could eventually jeopardise growth prospects. There’s no problem right now. The IMF recently raised its forecast for global growth in 2007 from 4,9% to 5,2%. China, India and Russia are expected to supply about half of the total gain, offsetting softer ...