It's fashionable to say the era of strong emerging-market growth is over. As the United States recovers, the global cost of capital will rise, holding back investment. Against this background, avoiding the next crisis is the best that most emerging economies can do.

If you take this view, India might seem a perfect example, with its widening current account deficit, heavy public borrowing, persistent inflation and weak currency. I don't think so.

As a general matter, emerging-market gloom is overdone. India, in particular, could teach the pessimists a lesson.