Peter Fisher, managing director and co-head of fixed income at investment trading firm BlackRock, was optimistic while warning that things will get worse before getting better. Fisher believes the US can avoid runaway inflation and sees inflation rates falling in a year, albeit at the cost of weak demand and zero growth by 2009.

Countering former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker's April 2008 remark that we are in a dollar crisis, Fisher believes the current movements of the dollar will facilitate an orderly adjustment of global imbalances reflecting its role as a reserve currency.

He stressed, however, that adjustments needed to be completed without the pressure of prolonged inflation. "This is why it is so important for the Federal Reserve to resist a further rise in inflation," said Fisher, "and why, I suspect, Chairman Bernanke was recently so explicit about the Federal Reserve's focus on the implications of changes in the value of the dollar for inflation and inflation expectations."

Underpinning Fisher's outlook is his belief that while Asia will grow much faster than the US in the next 20 years, the two are not entirely decoupled. "Like a three-legged race but with a six-foot rope tying the runners," Fisher postulated, saying either side will feel the other's lag.

"Asian economies are unlikely to succeed unless the Fed does well and the Fed won't succeed unless Asian economies do well."

Touching on the ongoing subprime-triggered credit crunch, Fisher was also joined by later panelists in cautioning Asian banks and policymakers and advising them to look deeply at all risk exposures and evaluate them in a consistent way.

Practitioners from Asia shared Fisher's outlook and displayed a high degree of introspection and caution. Many observed the role of "group think" in the subprime crisis and emphasized a healthy risk management culture in battling future crises.

He Guangbei, vice-chairman and chief executive of Bank of China (Hong Kong), said the most important thing in risk management is the right risk culture. "Ten years ago in BOC (Hong Kong), each sub-division did its own risk modeling and a collective committee made decisions," said He.

"When something happened, it was hard to attribute responsibilities and hold the right people accountable. Now we have structures, checks and balances in place to hold people accountable."

Zhao Haiying, managing director and chief of department of strategic asset allocation and research at China Investment Corp, shared her confidence that Chinese banks can learn - and are learning - from Western risk calculation methods while emphasizing local know-how and common sense to provide holistic views of business and market risks.

Several debates brought to attention the perception gaps between some policymakers and practitioners over Asia's monetary and fiscal policy directions.

While Clay Lowery of the US Treasury Department urged Asian countries to expand bond markets and rein in inflation, and Nicholas Lardy of the Peterson Institute for International Economics expressed skepticism over the recent turnaround of Chinese banks, people like Zhao and He were optimistic.

Anthony Walton of United Chartered Bank and Thomas Wu of UCBH Holdings were bullish on Asian banks' global expansion.

Wu, for his part, pioneered the cross-Pacific banking partnership with UCBH's 4.9 percent sale to China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd earlier this year.

O.P. Bhatt, chairman of the board of State Bank of India, said: "For Indian banks ... not to serve their global clients would be like suicide." Inflation, meanwhile, seemed to Bhatt and his fellow panelists more of a natural reflection of growth.

As for the bond markets, Khiem Do of Baring Asset Management (Asia) was unconvinced. "Small bond markets are not a bad thing, as it means your government is not deep in debt. Part of the reason is that with loan-deposit ratios averaging 75 percent in Asia, corporations have not needed to resort to bond borrowing."

Differences aside, David Tang, managing partner, Asia, at K&L Gates and chairman of the board at the San Francisco Federal Reserve, thought these exchanges have been positive for policymakers and practitioners to find common ground and plot their courses of action.

Amid diverse perspectives, there were some agreements. There was a sense of certainty when people discussed Asia's rise in the economic value chain and its change from a savings-based economy to an investment-based one. Everyone agreed that attracting skilled talent is a top priority, especially when growth slows in the coming years.

China's recent 10.6 percent growth rate and India's 8.8 percent may not be seen again in the immediate future. Instead, Asian countries want to steady the growth and attract global investments for the long term.

Jin Liqun, vice-president of the Asian Development Bank, envisions a robust Asian economy and global Asian brands in the banking sector but said: "We can't afford to make any mistakes."