"It occurred to me overnight, that there is an even bigger issue here. This historic emergence event, where the BRICS and Next-11 etc are experiencing a few decades of massive economic development has only been made possible by the technologies of affordable high-speed internet (enabling service providers in the emerging world to compete directly for jobs in the developed world) and affordable fast and efficient international transport systems (air and sea) to compete directly for manufacturing jobs in the developed world. So again, technology is central to the most rapid period of change that probably has ever been seen. The rapid decline in the price of internet-enabled computing technology, to empower the poorest peoples in the developing world, is just part of that much bigger historic emergence event."

"I attached an article from the AFR today about very cheap tablet computers in India (and they seem likely to get cheaper). I believe this is part of a massive world-changing event that will have a massive impact in the emerging world, making education, knowledge, (& ability to make money) much more accessible to billions more people. You slogan "empowerment through knowledge" seems particularly pertinent here.

"It strikes me that this will help fuel another wave of emerging-world competition on the West - possibly highly deflationary.

"This also seems like a major democratising force, which seems to be starting to reduce corruption in India (and undoubtably elsewhere), and is increasingly a means of holding politicians more accountable.

"Cheap, small, web-capable computers are rapidly changing the world."

David Fuller's view Thanks for an informative email of general interest.

I certainly agree with what you say and would summarise by adding: The accelerated rate of technological innovation is accelerating the rate at which many emerging economies develop.

Yes, there are definitely some deflationary consequences to this spread of education, knowledge and expertise. However, this will have far more benefits than downsides as it also boosts global GDP growth. I hope it is a democratising force, although history too often shows that this is a struggle.