The world economy faces serious challenges in sustaining the strong economic growth of the last few years, the UN says in its report, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2008. The baseline forecast of the United Nations for world economic growth is to moderate to 3.4% this year, following the trend line down from 3.9% in 2006 and 3.7% in 2007. But there is a clear and present danger of the world economy coming to a near standstill. WDEV summarizes the report
In the second half of 2007, the bursting of the housing market bubble in the United States and the unfolding credit crisis had induced uncertainty across global financial markets. This, together with the decline of the dollar and the unresolved problem of the large global imbalances, could combine to further drag world output down. To prevent this from happening, the UN advises concerted international policy action to address the global imbalances and calm currency markets ... ... this article is published in Issue 1/Jan-Feb 2008 for subscribers only. For direct log in >>> click here.If you have no subscription >>> pick your option or >>> buy the article.
At first glance, everyday life seems not to have changed in Istanbul. The streets are congested; people hurry to the ferry or the bus. For weeks, there has been no terror attack. Nevertheless, there are some visible changes. There are much more policemen in the streets. In some days, the Istiklal Caddesi, the main shopping street on the European side, seems to be under a state of siege. At every street corner, there is police van with the blue light switched on.
Recent disturbing trends in international finance have particularly problematic implications, especially for developing countries. The new United Nations report, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2017 (WESP 2017), is the only recent report of a multilateral inter-governmental organization to recognize these problems, especially as they are relevant to the financing requirements for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Trump government signals unequivocally the end of international US hegemony. An international hegemon is able to define rules that find relatively broad acceptance internationally and plays a role in safeguarding international economic stability. The Trump government announced measures that go against the present economic rules while not proposing new ones.
The global deficit in quality jobs and deteriorating economic conditions in a number of regions threatens to undo decades of progress in poverty reduction, warns a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) 2016.
Weakening of workers' rights in most regions is being aggravated by severe crackdowns on freedom of speech and assembly, according to the 2016 Global Rights Index. Restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, including severe crackdowns in some countries, increased by 22%, with 50 out of 141 countries surveyed recording restrictions.