When the Western world experienced unprecedented high inflation and low growth, economic decision-makers chose to tackle "the lesser of two perils" - sidelining economic growth to concentrate on beating back inflation.

Today the US economy appears to be on the brink of stagnation again, while China seems to be faced with the same challenge.

China's economy definitely needs to slow down. Decades of sustained rapid growth has kept the nation in a constant struggle to meet soaring demands for coal, electricity, oil and transportation. The supply crunch has persistently prevented efforts to curb negligence in production safety, particularly at coal mines.