Art market still remains immune...

Looks like the art market is still untouched by the global financial crisis. My question is: How long are the good times going to last? In an interconnected global economy, it is only a matter of time before the turbulence fans itself out into wider waters.

In the art market, there are no signs of panic just yet. Some insiders insist that the arrival of blue-chip collectors from eastern Europe, India and China will cushion the top end against recession, citing as evidence the recent Damien Hirst auction at Sotheby's, and steady trading at last week's Frieze art fair. There is also a lot of anxiety about "the death of the middle", where artworks trade for between £5,000 and £50,000. The over-arching prediction seems to be something serious, but not drastic: a pronounced slowdown rather than a crash.