As problems welled up for western finance this summer and the global credit squeeze took hold, emerging markets were initially jumpy. But then something remarkable began to happen. In the last few weeks, international investors have piled in to buy assets from developing nations, scooping up everything from Brazilian bonds and Chinese shares to the South African rand.

The rush has become so marked that some analysts have started to talk about a once unimaginable idea: that buying securities in a country such as Indonesia or Chile could be an appealing opportunity when there is a “flight to quality” under way. Emerging markets, in other words, have started to resemble a safe haven.