Cars and mobile phones are designed increasingly to suit the tastes of customers in developing economies. But in central banking, the more dynamic countries remain the poor relations.
Imagine what the world’s monetary policy would be if the People’s Bank of China, rather than the US Federal Reserve, set the global agenda. Then the number one goal would not be to help an already rich country recover from a hangover caused by a binge of housebuilding and borrowing. Instead, it would be to push commodity prices down towards the cost of production. The current commodity boom increases the risk of both social unrest and an inflationary spiral in China, where food and fuel account for almost half of consumer spending.
Somewhat tighter policy – higher real interest rates around the world, perhaps supplemented by controls on speculative lending – would reduce commodity buyers’ spending power without discouraging helpful investments. That would be a change. Real interest rates are now negative in countries accounting for two-thirds of world gross domestic product.