Asia growth pessimists expect to score a hat trick against the optimists in 2014 and beyond. We (at Standard Chartered) disagree.

The bearish narrative goes as follows:

Excessive leverage growth has left the region's economies over-stretched, meaning weak growth at best and a potential crisis at worst. Weak or negative productivity performance means soft growth and investment returns. Demand for Asian goods remains subdued despite the recovery in the West, so the external sector will not come to the rescue of the world's most open region to trade.