2007: Asia's Banner Year

Asia's economies are soaring so mightily that Bloomberg columnist William Pesek is passing out awards for Asia's big players in 2007. They range from a “Money Talks” prize, for Arab and Asian leaders who bailed out Wall Street banks, to the “Howard's End” trophy, for Australian PM Kevin Rudd's brave embrace of the Kyoto Protocol. "Yet the biggest news was a not-so-subtle shift in Asia's role in global markets," Pesek writes.

He reminds readers how, a decade ago, Asia suffered a humiliating meltdown and opened its doors for Westerners to buy assets at fire-sale prices. Now the shoe is on the other foot, and Asia is snapping up the West’s blue light specials. And why not? China is expanding, as the Indian rupee spikes 15% and the Thai baht 18%—all while US influence wanes. (More Chinese economy stories.)