It's been quite a ride for Asia over the past year. A nice rally in the first few months of 2013, then a relentless sell-off as investors threw their "taper tantrum," and subsequently another solid market recovery.
The question remains, however: how shaky are Asia's economic fundamentals, really? Challenges abound, no doubt. Productivity growth has slowed and debt keeps climbing. Strengthening demand in the West will not pull the East out of its malaise. But as long as global interest rates remain as low as they have been of late, the region will manage to tick along with steady, if subpar, growth.