Domestic demand was sleepy when consumer credit was unknown and a combination of a weaker currency and high barriers to trade made imports too expensive.

ECONOMIST: Brazil

Trade barriers remain high, banks are indulgent, and many promoters can rely on friendly government-owned shareholders to protect them from the likes of Mr Bajoria.

ECONOMIST: Indian takeovers

If this comes to pass, the high-tech firms that remain may wonder why they fought so long to keep trade barriers when innovation worked even better.

ECONOMIST: American textiles

What happened was, is a group, a subset of APEC countries came together and said let's see if we can create a high-standard agreement that is dealing with tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade, but let's also incorporate a whole range of new trade issues that are going to be coming up in the future -- innovation, regulatory convergence, how we're thinking about the Internet and intellectual property.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama at the APEC Business Summit