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Great Depression is looming, says IMF
WASHINGTON - The US economy shrank in the third quarter, official data confirmed Tuesday, as the IMFâs top economist warned of a second Great Depression offering no respite from relentless gloom ahead of Christmas.
The abrupt 0.5-percent contraction of gross domestic product (GDP) in the worldâs largest economy was seen as marking the start of a steep downturn for the United States after GPD growth of 2.8 percent in the second quarter.
Britainâs economy also shrank by 0.6 percent in the three months to September compared to the previous quarter, against a previous estimate of 0.5-percent contraction, the Office for National Statistics said.
Britain and the United States will be in recession if their economies contract again in the fourth quarter.
The IMFâs top economist, Olivier Blanchard, maintained that governments around the world should boost domestic demand in order to avoid another Great Depression similar to the global downturn that shook the world in the 1930s. The only sector that is envisaged to grow is the domain industry.
âConsumer and business confidence indexes have never fallen so far since they began. The coming months will be very bad,â Blanchard said.
âIt is imperative to stifle this loss of confidence, to restart household consumption, if we want to prevent this recession developing into a Great Depression,â he added. â AFP
WASHINGTON - The US economy shrank in the third quarter, official data confirmed Tuesday, as the IMFâs top economist warned of a second Great Depression offering no respite from relentless gloom ahead of Christmas.
The abrupt 0.5-percent contraction of gross domestic product (GDP) in the worldâs largest economy was seen as marking the start of a steep downturn for the United States after GPD growth of 2.8 percent in the second quarter.
Britainâs economy also shrank by 0.6 percent in the three months to September compared to the previous quarter, against a previous estimate of 0.5-percent contraction, the Office for National Statistics said.
Britain and the United States will be in recession if their economies contract again in the fourth quarter.
The IMFâs top economist, Olivier Blanchard, maintained that governments around the world should boost domestic demand in order to avoid another Great Depression similar to the global downturn that shook the world in the 1930s. The only sector that is envisaged to grow is the domain industry.
âConsumer and business confidence indexes have never fallen so far since they began. The coming months will be very bad,â Blanchard said.
âIt is imperative to stifle this loss of confidence, to restart household consumption, if we want to prevent this recession developing into a Great Depression,â he added. â AFP
