Appearing in a crowded lecture room at Harvard Business School this month, Joe Baratta, the face of Blackstone’s private equity operations, suggested that the US and other developed markets presented more lucrative opportunities for investment than emerging markets, given the risks and pitfalls.

Next up at the podium was David Rubenstein. The Carlyle co-founder said China offered the greatest potential of any market given the seductive rate of growth there – on a relative basis, of course. Last year Carlyle put more than $1bn of equity capital to work on the mainland.

One of the toughest decisions facing investors worldwide is whether to return to the promise of emerging markets or cling to the far more transparent but more sobering prospects for developed markets. And if the smartest investors disagree, what are the rest of us supposed to do?