Sorry, the heading might have been slightly misleading, I'm not talking about the kind of person to person love that leads to coupling, weddings, mortgages, and occasionally even children. I'm talking about the coupling that leads countries to plunge, lemming like, into and out of economic crises, forming a macroeconomic conga line behind that pinnacle of consumer power the US of A. 

There's a debate currently raging as to whether the USA's economic woes will suck the rest of the world into a global recession, or whether Asian and European consumers have become sufficiently powerful to pick up where US demand is about to fall off.

If the global economy remains tightly coupled, and we're all on the verge of plummeting headlong into a global recession, I hate to break it to you, but it's our own stupid fault. 

For the last few decades open market evangelists have gone forth and multiplied, chanting the mantra that small open economies should focus on exports, constrain wages, and limit government spending on human capital development. 

It's a quick cheap fix to grow GDP, but has a disasterous effect at the microeconomic level, because constrained wages prevent local industries from finding a market, and local technologies from developing, not to mention human capital, which stagnates under neglect. 

The result on the micro-scale is that the kids in China who make your sneakers are in bare feet. At the macro level it leaves most of the world's economies at the mercy of the North American consumers, who themselves are at the mercy of a poorly regulated loans sector.

What this all means for Australia is interesting indeed. For a while we've continued to wear our rings, and pretend our relationship with the US was a strong as always, we've also been conducting a not-so-secret romance with Asia. In a desperate bid to prove our fidelity to our old ally, we even signed a free trade agreement, and pretended we remained true, while our dalliance with our Asian neighbours grew ever more serious. 

So what happens now? 

As is often the case financial hardship may well force an end to the sham relationship we have struggled so long maintain. If Asian consumers continue to strut their decoupled stuff on world markets, Australia will drop all pretences and shift it's focus from East to West, (go look at where we sit on the map and then get back to me). 

We can tell ourselves that really it's just a separation, but inside we all know the truth. If only breaking up wasn't so hard to do.

I wonder if we can still be friends?