How Asia Can Protect Its Crazy Riches
Exporting capital to the West hit the region hard in past downturns. This time needs to be different.
Asian investors have a history of being hurt in trophy real estate. Above: Rockefeller Center.
Photographer: Education Images/Universal Images Group Editorial/Getty
With support for globalization and free trade declining in much of the world, Asia has a historic chance to break out of its traditional role as a capital exporter to the West and to instead redirect flows to improve its own economies and financial industries.
According to some estimates, the region’s pool of wealth at $110 trillion exceeds those of North America and Europe and is growing faster. Japan and China were at or near the top of foreign portfolio investment in the United States, including stocks and short- and long-term bonds, in 2017 with $2 trillion and $1.5 trillion respectively, a U.S. Treasury survey showed.