This special report by George Magnus, a senior economic advisor at UBS Investment Bank, takes a look at some key economic and investment issues regarding emerging markets and China. Magnus, who has just completed a book on emerging markets, argues that while EMs have boomed in recent years, there are a number of unresolved problems which suggest the past may not repeat, and investors must be careful.

This letter contains a special feature by George Magnus, senior economic advisor at UBS Investment Bank, on the coming negative change in global demographics. The world population is aging rapidly and the proportion of retired to working people is rising sharply. While these are slow-moving forces compared to, say, banking crises, they are powerful and inexorable trends that cannot be 'fixed.' Rather, we, and governments, must adjust to them, and investors must pay attention to their complex investment implications.