SocGen's Edwards: China will collapse in 2012

A likely hard landing in China will bring the financial crisis of the past five years to a climax in 2012, a leading City strategist has warned.

Albert Edwards, head of strategy at Société Générale and a well-known market bear, said the next 12 months will be the "final year of pain and disappointment", the Guardian reports. Predicting a sharp slowdown in activity in the world's fastest-growing emerging economy, Edwards said: "There is a likelihood of a China hard landing this year. It is hard to think 2013 and onwards will be any worse than this year if China hard-lands." Although China emerged rapidly from the downturn of 2008-2009, Edwards said the recovery was the result of huge reflationary stimulus by the Chinese governm...