China’s leaders are not doing enough to control the country’s overheating economy, according to our web poll last week.
This is perhaps not a surprising result. Growth of 10.3% in 2010 was frighteningly high and inflation is already above 5%, just as labour shortages are driving wages higher and threatening to kick-start a much broader bout of inflation.
That is the last thing China wants, but the goal of keeping its currency competitive against the dollar means there is no magic bullet in its arsenal. Pushing up interest rates would take it out of step with the US economy and bring an end to the renminbi’s stable...
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