US should have banked on birth of AIIB

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has already had an impact, before a single loan has been approved.

Washington considers the AIIB a four-letter word. It also considers it a challenger to its financial hegemony. On both counts, Washington is right but what should really concern those walking the polished corridors of power in the Capitol is not the new bank but the circumstances that have deemed it necessary for such an institution to exist.

Asia is suffering from an infrastructure deficit and the global financial institutions cannot fund the necessary construction. Estimates are that from now to 2020, Asia will need some $8 trillion for infrastructure.