STEVE INSKEEP, host: NPR's Business News starts with Asia's plunging exports.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: Remember a year or two back when people were talking about decoupling? How Asia didn't really depend on America anymore? How their economies could float off, even as ours declined? Well, Asian economies still rely on exports and as consumers and businesses around the world stop buying so much, demand for the region's products is collapsing.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: Today China said exports for February fell a record 26 percent compared to the year before. Japan recently announced a 45 percent drop in its exports and today came out with more data showing the fall-off in demand. Japan has proposed its biggest budget ever to combat the recession. China is already busy pumping money into its economy. And analysts say the spending in areas like transportation appears to be boosting growth.
As consumers and businesses around the world stop buying so much, demand for the region's products is collapsing. China said exports for February fell a record 26 percent compared to last year. Japan recently announced a 45 percent drop in its exports, and came out with more data on Wednesday showing the falloff in demand.