The world is running out of havens. Gold bumped back above $1,900 an ounce on Monday as investors searched for safety, while the yen and Swiss franc are being kept off their highs only by the efforts of their governments.

That may help explain why emerging market bonds are benefiting from the crisis. Local currency emerging market bonds have been in demand since the start of August, at a time when other risky assets have been dumped, with yields falling by half a percentage point. Emerging market dollar bond yields have also fallen, but not by anything like as much as US Treasuries.

The explanation is not the rise of the Brics, or even that many developing countries are net creditors. It is about two things. First, global imbalances: the vast emerging market foreign currency reserves are doing what they were supposed to do, insulating their owners.