WASHINGTON, DC – At last week’s annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Lima, Peru, one topic that dominated discussions was the slowdown in emerging-economy growth. Hailed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis as the new engines of the world economy, the emerging economies are now acting as a drag on global growth, and many argue that their era of rapid expansion – and their quest to achieve convergence with advanced-country income levels – is over.