But Avis's big expansion plans (from the current ten rental stations in China to 70 by 2008) are largely driven by demand from businesses with a large share of foreign investment.

ECONOMIST: Cars in China

For all the familiar signs of British economic frailty that are now making headlines, such as demand driven by consumption rather than investment, the biggest long-term worry is a different one: whether productivity growth, troublingly weak in the past few years, can revive.

ECONOMIST: Living standards