World Bank puts the kibosh on all of this economic happy talk

[marmar]

World Bank warns of deeper global contraction
By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch


TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The World Bank predicted Monday that the global economy will shrink 2.9% this year, a deeper fall than the 1.7% contraction it predicted in March.

It also warned that international capital to developing nations will continue to slow, with flows projected to fall to $363 billion in 2009 from their peak of $1.2 trillion in 2007.

Developing countries will grow by 1.2% in 2009, the bank said, down from 5.9% in 2008 and 8.1% in 2007.

Excluding China and India, gross domestic product in developing countries is expected to contract 1.6%.

The world has entered an era of slower growth that will require tighter and more effective oversight of the financial system, the bank said in a statement. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/world-bank-warns-of-deeper-global-contraction


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World Bank Says Global Economic Recession to Deepen (Update3)
By Timothy R. Homan


June 22 (Bloomberg) -- The World Bank said the global recession this year will be deeper than it predicted in March and warned that a flight of capital from developing nations will swell the ranks of the poor and the unemployed.

The world economy will contract 2.9 percent, compared with a previous forecast of a 1.7 percent decline, the Washington- based lender said in a report today. Growth will be 2 percent next year, down from a 2.3 percent prediction, the bank said.

The bank, formed after World War II to fund health and development projects in poor countries, said that while a global recovery may begin this year, impoverished economies will lag behind rich nations in benefiting. The lender called for “bold” actions to hasten a rebound and said the prospects for securing aid for the poorest countries were “bleak.”

“The recovery is not going to be V-shaped,” said Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. “We may see slower consumer demand over a prolonged period.”

The bank is more pessimistic than its sister organization, the International Monetary Fund. The IMF, which is forecasting a global contraction of only 1.3 percent this year and growth of 2.4 percent in 2010, said June 19 that it plans to revise estimates “modestly upward.” ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a5J9B_l2qURQ

[Karmadillo]

1. Yikes! While it's hard to see the silver lining here, maybe this will spell the end of our worship

of predatory capitalism.

[marmar]

2. I hope so.......

..... but that's decades of deprogramming to deal with.