Asia: Inflation threat clouds Olympic spotlight

With the eyes of the world on the Beijing Olympic Games, China is under the spotlight more than ever before. But despite significant spending on infrastructure, at the macroeconomic level the Olympics have had only a limited impact on an economy that has been growing very strongly anyway. Yet at a broader level the Games represent an important symbol of transition. China wants to show that it can put on a first-class sporting event and compete at the highest level. This cultural engagement is the antithesis of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, which isolated the country in the 1960s and...