Asian emerging markets in the era of ‘infinity war’

It was just a year ago that Argentina issued a 100-year bond offering a dollar coupon of less than eight per cent, for which there was three times as much demand as supply. Shortly afterwards, major investment banks issued their outlook for 2018. One of them was titled “Synchronised Skating”. Another one said, “As Good As It Gets”. In January this year, in the week that Donald Trump announced tariffs on South Korean washing machines, the IMF released its economic outlook, which did mention challenges ahead, but presented a mostly optimistic baseline.