At a recent Emerging Markets Institute workshop held at INSEAD, SMU Adjunct Professor Joergen Oerstroem Moeller said that "debt" and "scarcities" are two words that "Americans don't understand". He argued that global consumption will be crimped in future as many developed economies try to discharge massive debt burdens. The effect of debt combined with dwindling natural resources will also change the focus of the global economy from consumption maximisation to sustainability. Major opportunities will thereby flow to businesses that find ways to eke out something extra from existing assets.