World Outlook: Global Economic Trends and Prospects: Winter 2002

International issues that have an impact on Canadian organizations are highlighted in this quarterly publication.

Document Highlights 

The growth rate of the world economy in 2001 was among the weakest in the past two decades.
Highlights of this issue include:

• World economy activity will recover in the second half of this year in line with a rebound in U.S. economic activity.
• Positive factors for growth—including low oil prices and significant monetary and fiscal stimulus—will outweigh the negative effects that resulted from the loss of wealth in 2001 with the downturn in equity markets.
• The U.S. economic recovery will be led by a rebound in business investment spending.
• The debt crisis in Argentina is unlikely to spread to other parts of South America.
• Because the ECB has not cut interest rates by as much as the Fed, growth in much of Europe will lag behind that in the United States.
• Japan will remain mired in a recession until it resolves the crisis in the country’s banking sector.