One of the clearest messages the global downturn has delivered is that the balance of economic power in the world is shifting. The west can no longer expect to preserve the dominance it has enjoyed for most of the modern era – the rising economic superpowers of the east, and particularly China, are putting paid to that idea in clear terms.

Some of the reasons for this are obvious – a more liberal attitude to business adopted by the Chinese government, the globalisation of key industrial, commercial and financial markets, the failure in leadership at many leading banks and corporations. But I would also argue that the actions, or more precisely, the inaction, of some US and European business schools could also be playing a part in this trend.

In recent years, western business schools have played host to a large number of ambitious young Chinese professionals. And despite the rise of world-class schools in China, the influx shows little sign of abating. But while these students may have initially sought to stay on and build a career in the west, many now return to China as soon as they have graduated to put lessons learnt into practice. After all, why should they remain in the west when one of the world's largest and fastest-developing markets is quite literally on their own doorstep?