The following article by Neil Irwin was posted on the New York Times website April 19 2018:
As officials gather for the I.M.F. and World Bank meetings in Washington, worries about trade and debt are on the rise.
By a lot of measures, these are very good times for the global economy. Nearly every major region of the planet is enjoying solid growth and prosperity simultaneously for the first time in a decade.
Yet the world’s top economic policymakers, who are gathered in Washington this week, are sounding awfully glum.
“The present good times will not last for long,” said Maurice Obstfeld, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, as he released the fund’s latest projections, which foresee a solid 3.9 percent expansion of the global economy in 2018. Continue reading “If the World Economy Is Looking So Great, Why Are Global Policymakers So Gloomy?”