Emerging Economies Overtake Rich Countries in Imports

This article discussed that emerging economies, already producing most of the worlds exports, will start to import more than the rich countries. Due to the rich countries' financial crisis, the shift in the economic power to the emerging economies have accelerated. With increasing growth in income, emerging economies have increased their imports, such that it has grown twice as fast as the rich, developed economies over the past decade. Particularly because emerging economies need to import machinery and equipments from the developed economies to improve their infrastructure. At the same, consumer spending have also increased and will make up about half of the world's retail sales by 2012. The article also suggested that in 2014, China will overtake the US as the world's biggest importer. With the rich countries' total real GDP not increasing as much, would we expect to see a reversal of fortune between the developed economies and the emerging economies in the near future?

For more information:
http://www.economist.com/node/21537925