But there is no necessary reason why this should be so, just as there is no necessary reason to suppose that the business cycle is dead in the developed world.If that is right, the obvious question is whether the knock-on impact of East Asian currency turmoil will be as serious as that of Latin America. Because East Asia has, over the last two decades, been the most successful region in the world in terms of economic growth there is a widespread assumption this performance will continue.The balance of probability is indeed that it will, but that does not preclude the existence of several shocks, perhaps quite severe ones, on the way. Indeed it would be more surprising if there were no shocks, for in historical terms the last few years have seen unusually even growth in this part of the world.The graphs show what has been happening to economic growth in the main developing regions over the past quarter century - East Asia, Latin America and Central Asia and the Middle East.East Asia is interesting not only because it has the fastest average performance, just over 7 per cent a year, but also because the volatility of that growth has decreased.The 1987/96 period shows a much more even performance than the 1971/86. The rebuilding of fiscal disciple in the UK began with the IMF loan in 1976, and while Mr Soros may indeed have made pounds 2bn from speculating against sterling at the time of its ejection from the ERM, that event also led to the sustained economic recovery of the UK, a recovery which in the markets' eyes justifies the pound at an even higher level against the mark than the level which Mr Soros deemed inappropriate. (Incidentally, if sterling is again too high, why is Mr Soros not selling it?)If that sounds frivolous, remember that fundamental changes in the market perception of a currency not only occur but frequently repeat themselves at surprisingly short intervals.Mexico has gone through the cycle of being the darling of the markets, then the disaster, then back again to being the darling twice in the last 20 years.The Mexican experience is really the better model. Is the crisis of confidence in many East Asian currencies a re- run of the Mexican debt crisis of 15 years ago with potentially serious impact on the world financial system? Or is it just a blip to help remind us that the world's fastest-growing region will inevitably suffer growing pains.

Even in these days of transcontinental vacationing most people will have had little direct experience of the Thai baht or the Malaysian ringgit. So the plunge of the former and the weakness of the latter will not have had much impact on Briton's travel plans. But the decision of Thailand to call in the International Monetary Fund yesterday will have pushed the plight of the baht onto more people's radar screens. And there was a certain wry humour to be extracted last week from the denunciation of the financier George Soros by Malaysia's acerbic Prime Minister, Mohamed Mahathir.The latter called currency speculators "rogues, robbers and brigands", singling out a "certain powerful American financier" as a key culprit - he subsequently confirmed that Mr Soros was indeed the chap he had in mind.If UK history were a precedent, this could be a strong bull signal for both countries. Newcastle United lost 7p, closing at 116.5p, with investors concerned about the effect on the team's performance on the football field following the injury to Alan Shearer who will be out of action for months.Fairplace Consulting, a company offering careers training for the financial services sector, made its debut on AIM yesterday at 3p a share, and gained0.75p by close of trading.. Salomon said its enthusiasm for Lloyds and HSBC Holdings - which bucked the trend and gained 33p to 2,120.5p - was "tempered" by the strong year-to-date appreciation of the shares.Christian Salvesen closed down 17p at 302.5p, after a growing feeling in the market that the company would not bid for Hays. Figures from Abbey National - down 9p to 810p - are due today.

Halifax performed poorly,

04/11 Obtain Elton John Tickets staging in Peoria Civic Center, Rimrock Auto Arena. Elton John is staging in Peoria, Billings and Spokane. Elton John tickets

06/11 - 08/11 Land Katy Perry Tickets staging in Bank Atlantic Center, Bridgestone Arena. Katy Perry is staging in Fort Lauderdale, Nashville and Phoenix. Katy Perry tickets

07/11 - 08/11 Acquire Night Ranger Tickets performing in Ashley Furniture Homestore Pavilion, Blossom Music Center. Night Ranger is performing in Phoenix, Cuyahoga Falls and Mansfield. Night Ranger tickets

shedding 16.5p to close at 704p; and Lloyds TSB, reacting to Salomon Brothers' "lukewarm" sentiment on the stock at current prices, finished down 13p at 646.5p. BA's shares hit a five-month low last week after worries about the strike and downgrades by several investment houses.Nervousness about forthcoming results dented shares in banks. The stock was also helped by hopes that talks with unions would resolve the strike by cabin crew. The US investment house underpinned its comments by buying ICI stock yesterday.British Airways surged 12.5p to 643p, after news that it would take pounds 50m from the US flotation of Galileo International, the global computer reservations firm in which it has a stake.

Analysts said the 28.5p surge to 946p was driven by a recommendation from Bear Stearns at the tail end of last week. SocGen, which reckoned BAT was worth around 673p a share, said the US tobacco settlement removed uncertainties for shareholders. After re-aquiring Cigarera La Moderna last week, BAT was more likely to demerge its tobacco and insurance operations, SocGen suggested.ICI was another prime mover among the blue chips, especially in late afternoon trading. The satellite operator's enforced withdrawal from British Digital Broadcasting has also been blamed for the share price's poor performance.Elsewhere, BAT Industries, which firmed 6p to 533.5p on a "strong buy" note from Societe Generale. The share price has suffered in recent months after the company's ebullient chief executive and managing director, Sam Chisholm, and his well-respected deputy, David Chance, both announced they were to quit. Customers will now pay pounds 29.99 a month for premium services although the basic tier will remain unchanged at pounds 11.99.The shares were also helped along by a buy note from Sky's advisors, BZW Merrill Lynch is also said to be keen on the stock.