Emerging markets: The $30trn question

Earlier this month Infrastructure Investor was lucky enough to take part in Upside Down World, the podcast of emerging market expert Jerome Booth. There was much to talk about.

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‘What goes up must come down’. Concise encapsulation of Isaac Newton’s findings on gravity, but also a handy principle to describe the tremors shaking emerging markets at present. From falling stocks to sliding currencies to the effect of a Chinese slowdown, developing countries will not be short of challenges to wrestle with in 2016.

Whether what is down must come up is an interesting question – and one Infrastructure Investor spent some time debating earlier this month while taking part in Upside Down World, the emerging market podcast of economist and investor Jerome Booth.

Our host had form. Booth is the co-founder of Ashmore group, a $50 billion emerging market asset manager, and chairs New Sparta, an investment firm with a strong bias towards developing economies. Also on the show was Justin Keay, a regular contributor to the Times, the International New York Times, BusinessWeek and Global Finance.

We all concurred that emerging markets were in for a tumultuous year. On the rest we did not always agree. You can listen to the full podcast by clicking here.