Global growth sputters on trade fears – The Wall Street Journal
DUBLIN – It was only a matter of time until the ongoing tensions between the world's most important economies – China and the USA – began to drag down the rest of the world. The IMF has lowered its global growth forecasts on worries about trade and emerging market fears. With US tariffs rising, it seems likely that trade will slow this year, which is generally a bad thing for the world (we usually trade to get things that we can't make as efficiently as other countries, which frees us up to focus on what we're good at – without trade, we have to make everything ourselves, so total global production declines). And rising US interest rates are draining liquidity from emerging markets that badly need it, triggering almost-crises in Argentina and Turkey, with more countries possibly in line. Although it's far from a perfect storm and there is still plenty to like about global growth, the clouds are definitely gathering on the horizon. – Felicity Duncan
By Josh Zumbrun
(The Wall Street Journal) The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecasts for global economic growth this year and next, citing rising trade protectionism and instability in emerging markets.
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