Martin Gilbert: Separating rhetoric from reality in emerging markets

A number of causes for alarm

Over the years many people have remarked to me that there is never a dull moment in emerging markets. Never were that more true than now, writes Martin Gilbert, co-chief executive of Aberdeen Standard Investments.

The tit for tat exchanges between the US and China on tariffs are just one set of stories that have grabbed the headlines recently in a year that has already seen various highs and lows, from the departure of South Africa's embattled President Jacob Zuma to talk of renewed sanctions against Russia.  All of this can cause alarm but it always pays to scratch beneath the surface to get a sense of the outlook for emerging markets. The US's moves against China, and the reciprocation, are a case in point. It is easy to take the US's intention to impose about $60bn of further tariffs on impo...