And while there are problems, a long term down trend is highly unlikely in any of these markets because the alternatives are plagued with debt, getting old, and losing income to the emerging powers of the new world.
As a result, profit margins of small firms are thin and cashflow problems are acute even by South Korean standards, a trend that has continued since the 1960s.
And the real question is whether there is a trend, and whether sharp political divisions at home and the problems they leave unsolved undermine America's quest to find its rightful place in a changing world.
The trend for older women to suffer from eating disorders and body image problems may be the result in part of an aging Twiggy generation, the 60s being among the first decades in recent history where being stick-thin was the ideal.
Mike Shedlock of Global Economic Trend Analysis was the first to pick up several problems with the details of the report and his analysis is worth a read.