Global economy 2009: ‘The Great Recession’

Friday, 13th March 2009 09:02 - by GedW

This year will be remembered by generations to come as the ‘Great Recession’. The world economy is likely to shrink to ‘below zero’ in 2009 according to the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The previously suggested 3% fall was too optimistic and at the very least growth around the world has almost ground to a halt. In news: “The IMF expects global growth to show below zero this year, the worst performance in living memory. Continued de-leveraging by world financial institutions, combined with a collapse in consumer and business confidence is depressing domestic demand across the world. At the same time, global trade is falling off a precipice, along with the collapse of commodity prices”. There have even been warnings of civil unrest in certain pockets of the world, where certain countries economies fail completely, leading to famine, poverty and, it is alleged, the possibility of wars. Scary words indeed.