A toxic mix of recession risks hangs over the world economy
American inflation, Europe’s energy crisis and China’s Omicron outbreak threaten the world economy with a downturn
JUST A YEAR ago the world’s economists were celebrating a rapid rebound from recession. Now they are worrying that the next downturn could be looming. In America the Federal Reserve is preparing to do battle with high inflation by raising interest rates sharply and shrinking its balance-sheet. In Europe expensive energy is sapping consumers of spending power and making factories costlier to run. And in China an outbreak of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has led the authorities to impose the strictest lockdowns since the start of the pandemic.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Recession roulette”
From the April 9th 2022 edition
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