The Upside to a Downshifting China

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao raised eyebrows last week in a speech at the National People's Congress, the annual meeting of China's legislature. In opening remarks, Wen signaled his country's decision to lower its targeted economic growth rate to 7.5% after maintaining an 8% goal for the last seven years. While the announcement sent tremors through Wall Street, for the reasons I discuss below, the concern is not only misplaced, but outright wrong.