Cold shivers may follow hot money

All developing countries need foreign investment to develop. That is the plain truth.

But only the bigger, and more rapidly growing developing economies can attract foreign investment because those who own the money can see in those economies opportunities of quick returns, whether or not they truly exist.

That is why the bigger developing economies also tend to be exposed to a higher risk of financial turmoil if they somehow hold "too much" foreign investment - meaning more than what they could handle at a given time. Economic officials in Beijing may be asking themselves whether China will be the next economy to see some wild ups and downs of this sort.