The first decade of the twenty-first century was turbulent for many, in many different parts of the world and in many different ways. In 2005 the US housing market peaked and the asset bubble that had financed so much of the power of the consumer to keep global markets buoyant started to collapse. On a more positive note, that year the International Monetary Fund approved 100 per cent debt relief for 19 countries under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. The amount involved was relatively small, some $3.3 billion, but a positive step had been taken.

That same year, 2005, the Multi-Fibre Agreement, which had imposed quantitative restrictions on textile movements, particularly from Asia and the less developed areas of the world, came to an end after a long phase-out period. The China effect was beginning to be significant; China’s share of global textile exports to the US and Europe, 17 per cent in 2005, would rise to 40 per cent by 2010.