IMF Says World Economy Enters Dangerous Phase

[B. Kidd]

Predicting U.S. and Europe could go back into recession.

IMF Downgrades Global Economic Outlook - Yahoo! Finance

 

[BDBoop]

Brookings says same.

September 2011 Update for TIGER: Tracking Indexes for Global Economic Recovery - Brookings Institution

The global economic recovery is in real danger of skidding off course.

The September 2011 update of the Brookings Institution-Financial Times Tracking Indexes for the Global Economic Recovery (TIGER) indicates that the global economic recovery has hit a rough patch in its struggle to regain momentum after a series of adverse shocks. The general picture among G-20 economies is now one of slowing growth, swooning financial markets, and declining consumer and business confidence.

The updated interactive map below displays how fast individual G-20 economies are faring in global economic recovery. Underneath the map, links to updated key indicators display how fast those indicators are recovering for advanced economies, emerging markets and a composite total.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I say the same...so should anyone who pays the least bit of attention.
There is nothing that I see that will make any change. Only reason we even improved what little we did in 2010/2011 was the government throwing $1 tril into the system...it is gone and we certainly can't throw another $trillion in.

 

[sparky]

man, with forecast like that the IMF should get into the wheater biz

~S~

 

[Toro]

I don't disagree with the IMF. But ...

The forecasting record of economists is horrendous. In 2007 or 08 - I can't remember which, but just before the crisis - the IMF was lauding the strength of the world economy, and how everything looked a-OK.

 

[BDBoop]

I don't disagree with the IMF. But ...

The forecasting record of economists is horrendous. In 2007 or 08 - I can't remember which, but just before the crisis - the IMF was lauding the strength of the world economy, and how everything looked a-OK.

So if they notice it's bad, it's probably time to abandon all hope?

 

[waltky]

It's the economy, stupid...

Obama: People Not Better Off than 4 Years Ago
October 3, 2011 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Monday that Americans aren't better off than they were four years ago as the struggling economy and high unemployment have taken a toll.

Looking ahead to next year's election, the incumbent called himself the underdog in the 2012 presidential campaign though he said he doesn't mind the label. The Democrat said it's a role that he is used to. In an interview with ABC News, Obama was asked how he planned to convince people they're better off now than they were four years ago — the formulation Ronald Reagan famously used to defeat President Jimmy Carter in 1980.

"I don't think that they're better off than they were four years ago," Obama said. "They're not better off than they were before Lehman's collapse, before the financial crisis, before this extraordinary recession that we're going through. I think that what we've seen is that we've been able to make steady progress to stabilize the economy but the unemployment rate is still way too high."

The president says the next election is going to be about who the public believes shares their vision for the future. He says he believes the American people still back his approach to governing, even if he hasn't always been able to get his measures passed in Congress. Recent polls show Obama's public approval ratings holding steady in the low 40 percent range.

Obama: People Not Better Off than 4 Years Ago | CNSnews.com

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says its all dem Chineses fault...

Fed Chief: Undervalued Chinese Currency Harms US Recovery
October 04, 2011 - The head of America's central bank says China's currency practices hinder U.S. and global economic recovery. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday, but did not specifically address a bill being debated in the upper chamber that would penalize Beijing for maintaining an undervalued currency.

At a time when the Capitol reverberates with intense and often bombastic debate on China's currency valuation, Fed Chairman Bernanke told lawmakers that, indeed, Beijing keeps the yuan artificially low, and that undervaluation has real consequences. "The Chinese currency policy is blocking what might be a more normal recovery process in the global economy," said Bernanke.

Bernanke spoke at a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee, comprised of legislators from both chambers. He said China's currency practices contribute to sluggish economic growth in the United States and other advanced industrialized nations, which puts a damper on global expansion. "We have a two-speed recovery where advanced industrial countries like the United States and Europe are growing very, very slowly, and where emerging market economies are growing quite quickly," Bernanke added. "A more normal, more balanced recovery would have some more demand being shifted away from the emerging markets towards the industrial economies. The Chinese currency policy is blocking that process. And so it is, to some extent, hurting the recovery process."

The Fed chief said he had no data on U.S. job losses stemming from an undervalued yuan. Senators backing a bill that would force the U.S. government to treat currency manipulation as a foreign subsidy have pointed to economic studies alleging millions of American job losses over the last decade as a result of Beijing's monetary policies. Bernanke did not comment on the bill itself, which would trigger U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. The bill survived a procedural vote in the Senate Monday and likely faces a final vote in coming days.

Chinese officials have denounced the legislation as protectionist, and warned of serious disruptions in U.S.-China trade ties if it becomes law. The likelihood of the bill reaching President Barack Obama's desk appeared to diminish significantly Tuesday. The speaker of the Republican-led House of Representatives, John Boehner, told reporters he understands widespread concerns about China's currency practices. But he added he is "not sure" that congressional action "is the way to fix it", and that it is "dangerous" for Congress to tell a foreign country how to conduct its monetary policy. Bills must be approved by both houses of Congress to become law.

The Obama administration says China's currency remains undervalued, but has not endorsed the Senate bill. Much of Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke's testimony was devoted to the languishing U.S. economic recovery, which he said is "close to faltering" amid sluggish job growth, financially-strapped consumers, and market volatility stemming from the European debt crisis, U.S. fiscal woes, and other factors. He defended record-low U.S. interest rates and other steps taken by the Federal Reserve, and urged Congress to tackle thorny issues including federal taxation and regulation.

Source