STEVE INSKEEP, host:
It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.
President Bush is expected to propose some help for the economy today. A so-called stimulus package comes a day after investors cast more votes of little confidence. When stock markets closed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 300 points. But Asian markets, which usually follow U.S. markets, were a different story today.
And joining us to tell us about that is Andrew Wood, the Asia markets correspondent at the Financial Times. Welcome to the program.
Mr. ANDREW WOOD (Financial Times): Hello. Good morning.
INSKEEP: What has happened overnight - or overnight in U.S. time anyway?
Mr. WOOD: Asian stock markets have responded quite positively to the news that President Bush is hopefully going to announce some details of this stimulus package, because there's been an awful lot of nervousness here in Asia since the beginning of the year. Many markets are down 10 or 12 percent in the first two weeks of the year because, you know, after all, America is Asia's biggest export market. And if America catches a cold when it's - you know, potentially it could mean a lot of bad news for suppliers here in Asia.
INSKEEP: Well, I suppose the first question was whether U.S. officials were willing to do something about the economy at this time. The answer seems to be coming back yes. And you're saying that's being received positively. Do investors where you are believe that the United States can affect its economic destiny at this moment?
Mr. WOOD: Well, I think people are a bit cynical. Until we actually see the details of the package, it's difficult to tell. I mean, so far over the past few weeks, I mean certainly this week, some of the signs like retail sales in America, you know, some of the worst for some time, Intel missing its sales targets. And of course all of the stuff about the bank earnings this week with, you know, banks announcing more and more billion dollar write-downs as a result of the subprime mistakes. You know, this is really worrying a lot of people here in Asia. We are worried about that contagion a lot.
INSKEEP: Do officials in China or Japan or South Korea talk about developing their internal markets so they don't depend so much on the U.S. economy?
Mr. WOOD: Well, in the past six months to a year or so, you've heard talk of what's called the decoupling thesis. The idea is that China is now so big. It's growing so fast. I mean, economic growth, for the moment in China, the most recent figures were 11 percent a year. You know, at that rate the economy doubles in size about every six or seven years. And that the idea is that China is now dealing and trading with other countries in the region. And that this now is giving the region an economic life of its own.
So what happens in Europe, what happens in North America is less important compared to what it was, say, 10 years ago after the Asian financial crisis when there was a lot less domestic demand. Now, that's still a theory. And I mean we're certainly seeing over the next year, I think, will be a very big test of that theory.
INSKEEP: It certainly sounds like investors do not buy that theory if Asian stocks keep rising and falling based on the latest economic news from the U.S.
Mr. WOOD: They've certainly become very, very volatile, and it's not just in one country. Different countries are in different parts of the supply chain to the United States.
So if you're in Taiwan, you see - or in South Korea, companies like Samsung go up and down a lot because they make memory chips that might go into mobile phones or iPods.
And then in places, say, like Indonesia or Australia, you know - Indonesia, which provides palm oil, coffee, and things like that, and Australia, where, you know, big mining companies are supplying bauxite to turn into aluminium and copper and so on. You know, these economies are also getting affected because they're worried that a slowdown in the United States and perhaps a global slowdown will mean less demands for raw materials. So you're seeing a sort of knock-on effect right away through Asia as people worry about the worst that might happen.
INSKEEP: Andrew Wood is a reporter with the Financial Times. He monitors Asian markets from Hong Kong. Thanks very much.
Mr. WOOD: Thank you.