The Philippines may have better medium-term growth prospects than China. From Beijing to Kuala Lumpur, cheese is in greater demand than iron ore. The Nehru-Gandhi family has lost control of India. About the only thing familiar in the topsy-turvy Asian world is that the generals are back in charge of Thailand.

Asia, in so far as one can talk of such a huge, disparate region, is in flux. After years in which it settled into a fairly predictable pattern, the gears of change are grinding. Since the 2008 financial crisis, there have been several constants.

China was growing rapidly, becoming the region’s engine of growth. Cheap money and low interest rates, courtesy of western printing presses, enabled many countries to ramp up borrowing, stimulating the domestic demand needed to replace flat exports. Domestic politics, with a few exceptions such as Myanmar, was pretty stable. Now, none of the above holds. The region is entering a new phase.