Olympic Aftermath

China has gone all out to ensure the success of the 2008 Summer Olympics. The facilities are impressive. The final medal count is still to be determined, but the host country is sure to be near or at the top.

What happens when all the athletes, spectators, and tourists go home? Will China revert to its former secretive ways, or will this increasingly emerging economic super-power take its rightful place on the world stage?

Much has been said about the BRIC countries and their strong growth of recent years. Demand for commodities has been insatiable. But, in China, with all of the building and infrastructure for the Beijing Olympics now over, will there be a slow-down in growth there? We think so.

Over the last decade, China reported double-digit economic growth. This could tail off to 7%-9% in 2009 and beyond as a result of the completion of the Olympics and the general slow-down in economies world-wide.

One would not think it today, but the country that is likely to show the fastest growth of the major world economies starting in 2009 is