There is, however, a problem with this mantra, beyond the simple fact that it must by definition be too general to cover such a wide range of economies in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. It is that if convergence and outperformance were merely a matter of logic and destiny, as the idea of an “emerging-economy story” implies, then that logic ought also to have applied during the decades before developing-country growth started to catch the eye.
但是，这个魔咒有个问题。一个简单的事实是，顾名思义，这一魔咒定义太一般，难以覆盖全部亚洲、拉美、非洲和东欧的各种类型的经济体。如果如“新兴市场故事”观点所隐含的那样，趋同和赶超只是一个逻辑和宿命的问题，那么这一逻辑应该也适用于发展中国家增长开始吸引人们眼球之前的几十年。但并非如此。