For those eager to recruit the big emerging market economies and turn the Group of Seven nations into a Group of 11, 12, or perhaps 14, the slower and more varied response of the developing world to the financial crisis might give pause for thought.

Half the world’s economy was left out of this week’s co-ordinated round of interest rate cuts. Even China, whose economy last year was bigger than those of four of the G7 nations, cut rates on its own rather than as part of the club.