It's fine for Fed to keep eye on China; it's what it sees that's troubling

THE US Federal Reserve's no-change policy after its two-day September meeting has been vigorously dissected, and two key pieces of information have drawn the most attention.

The first is the Fed's citing of the global economy in explaining its hesitation, and the second is that the central bank's moderated outlook for the US economy.

Critics who bemoan the Fed's use of foreign economic data to shape policy as a change in the ground rules are missing the point. The bigger message from the Fed's policy statement is that fundamentals still matter, and that the fundamentals in China and Asia are serious and risky.