Even in Beijing, supply per head now stands at a perilously low 300 cubic metres (66, 000 gallons) a year.

ECONOMIST: China and water

One thing you learn from looking at the history of growth is that very dramatic things indeed need to be happening if growth per head is to be kept even as high as 2% in the leading-edge economies.

ECONOMIST: A century of progress

Even though this year visitors seem to be spending less per head, she suspects that they spent unusually freely in 1997, thanks to building-society windfalls.

ECONOMIST: The economy

Even in 1990 the World Bank spent more than twice as much per head on poor countries with good policies than on those with bad policies.

ECONOMIST: A fresh start | The