Decoupling has been a buzzword for a while. A positive thesis, it holds that emerging markets have their own internal sources of growth.

Applied to markets, it has two implications. First, emerging markets’ performance will not be linked to the US, so they will provide a hedge. Second, they will be a bulwark against problems elsewhere: the engines of growth will keep going, and shelter the US, Japan and western Europe from the worst of their own downturns.