Despite things being really bad, the global economy is doing pretty well
The increasing US skills gap, unemployment in Europe and income inequality in China — and yet the world economy is holding its own. But for how long?
London — Setting aside a few uncomfortable economic truths, such as the increasing US skills gap, eye-wateringly high unemployment in parts of the eurozone, and growing income inequality in China, the world economy has been doing pretty well this year. The issue is: how well and how sustainable? In the US, the economy has been strong enough for the Federal Reserve to start raising interest rates, slowly. In the eurozone, growth is robust enough for the European Central Bank (ECB) to think about dropping public warnings of risks. China, meanwhile, has so far staved off last year’s dire warnings of a sharp, potentially damaging, slowdown. But much of this comes courtesy of billions of dollars, euros, and other currencies being pumped into the global economy. In some cases, it is still being pumped in. And the results are not exactly bracing. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the world economy to grow 3.5% this year — not bad until you remember it averaged 4.2% over the 10 ...
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