Copper's plunge: a bad omen for world economy?

New York

THE price of copper, the metal often regarded as a benchmark of global industrial demand, has taken an 8 per cent dive this week to its lowest levels in five-and-half years - and in doing so ignited an argument about whether an already punch-drunk world economy is about to suffer another sharp blow.

On one side of the debate are some investors who believe the plunge in the price of the metal known as "Dr Copper" reflects new and ominous signs about the health of China's economy. On the other are traders and economists who see it as simply a schism of little relevance to the fate of global growth.