Asia in a credit trap, warns HSBC's Neumann

HSBC’s senior economist Frederic Neumann has joined the growing list of market observers raising questions over the sustainability of credit-fuelled growth in Asia.  In his latest research note, Asia’s Inconvenient Truth, Neumann points to a huge rise in debt in recent years that has masked deteriorating growth fundamentals, most notably a reduction in productivity. If Asia growth is predicated on pumping economies full of credit, investors should be worried on three fronts, he …