If the developed world was growing at 5 per cent like developing economies, the risks would be far less. At 2 per cent, however, "stall speed" connotes an inability to behave like the historical capitalistic model should. Corporations lose incentives to invest because profit growth stagnates, unemployed workers are not rehired and the standard cyclical model of seasonal rebirth is jeopardised.

These structural headwinds in turn confuse policymakers. Central banks apply a dose of liquidity and negative real interest rates that fail to stimulate investment, while fiscal authorities and political parties stagger from one election to another, recommending balanced budgets in one year and stimulus packages in another.

The burden of debt, however, which was the initial catalyst, is a slow-moving glacier in retreat. While the Rogoff/Reinhart research somewhat incompletely produced an analysis of sovereign debt instead of a debt analysis across the total economy, the past two years have produced negligible total debt deleveraging across almost all countries. Lower interest rates have relieved the burden somewhat and stimulus packages have reduced unemployment marginally. Now, however, as these policies reach mathematical and/or political limits, the developed economies stand at the mercy of unpredictable cross-currents: 1) the necessary continuation of Chinese growth; 2) the required and in some cases regulated moderation of commodity prices; and 3) the avoidance of systemic collapse in euroland.

David Fuller's view Fullermoney has often described investment selection as a global beauty contest. For equity investors, 'stall speed' is only beautiful on one condition.

Among equities, the winners at 'stall speed' will most likely be leading, big-cap, multinational companies leveraged to Asian-led global GDP growth. They are free to manufacture where they receive the most advantageous conditions in terms of costs and entry to overseas markets, and to sell where they earn the best returns. They also get to consolidate earnings in soft, 'begging bowl' currencies.