At the risk of sounding like Neville Chamberlain, how bizarre that we should be panic-selling our stock-market investments in reaction to the news of a slight economic slowdown in a faraway country to which we export little and whose direct investments in our own economy created fewer than 5,000 new jobs last year.
Throughout the mini-crash of 2016, it has become received wisdom that a Chinese slowdown is threatening the global economy, spreading contagion to every corner of the globe. The fear manifested itself in a 3.5 per cent drop in the FTSE 100 on Wednesday 20 January, a day when a flurry of good-news stories about the British economy, with rising car production and falling unemployment, was overlooked by investors, who instead fretted about the news that the Chinese economy had slowed slightly, from 7.3 per cent growth in 2014 to 6.9 per cent last year.
According to the pessimistic narrative, China is the engine of global growth.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in