World Economy Review - July 2018
RTS Index
A recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of uneven economic growth around the world and rising tensions in trade.
Xinhua spoke with noted Argentine economist Jorge Marchini, vice president of the Foundation for Latin American Integration (FILA), about the IMF`s latest "World Economic Outlook Update" released on July 16th.
"There is unevenness in the effects of growth. One (region) is the United States, which has growth and impetus, the other is Europe, which is in neutral. The Asiatic drive is important and in Latin America, (growth) is negative," said Marchini.
The IMF forecast global economic growth for this year and the next to register 3.9 percent, but not across the board, with gross domestic product (GDP) contracting in some regions and expanding in others.
For Latin America, the IMF downgraded its growth forecast from 2 percent to 1.6 percent, mainly due to sluggish growth in Brazil and Mexico, the region`s No. 1 and No. 2 economies, and the financial crisis gripping its third-biggest economy, Argentina.
High inflation, a volatile currency and a huge public deficit led Argentina`s government to recently apply for a 50-billion-U.S.-dollar loan from the IMF.
Marchini blamed uneven expansion on the current interrelated dynamics of trade, which leads to ripple effects.
"The world today opens pathways to economic growth for some countries, but at the same time that tends to cause an imbalance in the global economy," he said.
As an example, he noted the United States, whose economy shows...
The World Economy
World GDP Growth, %
The world economy can be evaluated in various ways, depending on the model used, and this valuation can then be represented in various ways (for example, in 2006 US dollars). It is inseparable from the geography and ecology of Earth, and is therefore somewhat of a misnomer, since, while definitions and representations of the "world economy" vary widely, they must at a minimum exclude any consideration of resources or value based outside of the Earth.
For example, while attempts could be made to calculate the value of currently unexploited mining opportunities in unclaimed territory in Antarctica, the same opportunities on Mars would not be considered a part of the world economy - even if currently exploited in some way - and could be considered of latent value only in the same way as uncreated intellectual property, such as a previously unconceived invention. Beyond the minimum standard of concerning value in production, use, and exchange on the planet Earth, definitions, representations, models, and valuations of the world economy vary widely.
It is common to limit questions of the world economy exclusively to Human economic activity, and the world economy is typically judged in monetary terms, even in cases in which there is no efficient market to help valuate certain goods or services, or in cases in which a lack of independent research or government cooperation makes establishing figures difficult. Typical examples are illegal drugs and prostitution, which by any standard are a part of the world economy, but for which there is by definition no legal market of any kind.