Global economy changes pace
The world economy may be doing better, but not everyone is enjoying the gains
The rebound from the global financial crisis took longer than expected but finally, nearly a decade later, the global economy is finding its feet. It has been aided in no small part by the recovery in the US. "Significant healing has taken place over the past several years," says Tao Zhang, deputy MD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "The global economy is getting better." The IMF is expecting global growth to rise to 3.5% this year and 3.6% in 2018, up from 3.2% in 2016. But despite clear signs of positive momentum, this is still weak in historical terms. Zhang identifies several global economic trends that help to explain this, including a synchronised slowdown in productivity growth, persistent income inequality, and the fact that globalisation is no longer generating the jobs and higher living standards that were once promised. Since the global financial crisis, there has been a clear slowdown in productivity growth across advanced, emerging and low-income countries (see...
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