Remember these names. Toshihiko Fukui. Zhou Xiaochuan. Perng Fai-Nan. Park Seung. Joseph Yam. And Yaga Venugopal Reddy. They are the central bank governors of Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and India respectively. They are also arguably more important for US monetary policy than Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, or his successor who will take on the role next year.

The argument is not as outlandish as it might seem. Consider some evidence: When Mr Greenspan said the US trade deficit was "increasingly less tenable" last November, financial markets took fright. The Dow Jones Industrial index fell 115 points and the dollar fell by 0.4 per cent against the euro on foreign exchange markets.