The old conundrum of who to call if you want to speak to ' #Europe' now applies to 'the West' as a whole. With lame-duck leaders in the #UK and #Germany, President #EmmanuelMacron humbled by the Gilets Jaunes revolt in #France and the #US profoundly divided over its role in the world, an emerging leadership vacuum in the world’s wealthy democracies has grown suddenly acute. 'There is no leadership in Europe' or from the U.S., according to former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who ran the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as secretary general from 2009 to 2014.


#WorldEconomy #Economy #Geopolitics #Diplomacy #Politics #ForeignPolicy #InternationalRelations #ForeignRelations #EconomicRelations #EconomicCooperation #DevelopedEconomies #DevelopingEconomies
Disarray in Europe and U.S. Leaves a Hole Where 'the West' Was
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-16/disarray-in-europe-and-u-s-leaves-a-hole-where-the-west-was

Stockpiles in #developedeconomies are 210 million barrels higher than their 5-year average, exceeding the glut that accumulated in early 2009 after the financial crisis. Slowing non-OPEC supply and rising demand for winter fuels could 'help alleviate the current overhang,' enabling a recovery in prices, it said. The group’s own production slipped last month because of lower output in Iraq. The current excess is bigger than the surplus of 180 million barrels to the 5-year seasonal average that developed in the first quarter of 2009. The 2009 glut was the only other occasion in the past 10 years when the oversupply has topped 150 million barrels.

#OPEC kept unchanged its 2015 and 2016 forecasts for global #oil demand, production outside the group, and the amount OPEC will need to pump. Non-OPEC supply will contract next year for the first time since 2007, decreasing by 130,000 barrels a day, as $200 billion in spending cuts takes its toll on the global industry. 

#Commodities   #CommodityMarket   #CommodityPrices #OilIndustry #OilPrices   #OilExploration  #OilProduction #OilMarket   #CrudeOil   #OilSlump   #OilGlut #OilandGas  
OPEC Says Oil-Inventory Glut Is Biggest in at Least a Decade
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-12/opec-says-oil-inventory-surplus-is-biggest-in-at-least-a-decade

The world economy and trade flows - and the #USeconomy - have changed dramatically over recent decades along with the composition of developed world growth. Globalisation has seen capital and capabilities flow from the #developedworld to the #developingworld. Large slabs of low-value manufacturing have been re-domiciled from #developedeconomies to #developingeconomies, generating consumer benefit in the developed world and improved living standards in the developing world.

Globalisation has, over decades, has created sophisticated global networks of activity. The world’s supply chains are both sophisticated and complicated. They are transnational and multinational, with many products representing bundles of components sourced from multiple jurisdictions. In some sectors, there is relatively little capacity within the developed economies to mass-produce low-value consumer goods. Offshoring and outsourcing has seen the capacity to make the low-value elements of production of even higher-value goods shift to China and, increasingly, other Asian economies.


#WorldEconomy #Globalisation #Economy #EconomicPolicy #EconomicOutlook #FreeTrade #GlobalTrade #Manufacturing
What Donald Trump’s economic #protectionism is missing
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/stephen-bartholomeusz/what-donald-trumps-economic-protectionism-is-missing/news-story/704874b6a8976eec66b6820bb8b3bf1f

The #WorldTradeOrganisation expects the volume of trade growth to remain weak in 2016, unchanged from the 2.8% levels registered last year, and to slightly accelerate to 3.6% in 2017. In particular, while exports of developed and developing countries should grow at around the same rate this year, at 2.9% and 2.8% respectively, imports of #developedeconomies are expected to outpace those of #developingcountries in 2016, with a 3.3% rise against a 1.8% increase respectively.

The fastest export growth of any region this year at 3.4% is expected in Asia, followed by North America and Europe, each at 3.1%. According to WTO director general #RobertoAzevêdo, the expected rate of #globaltrade growth is 'disappointing'. This will be the fifth consecutive year of trade growth below 3%. Moreover, while the volume of global trade is growing, its value has fallen because of shifting exchange rates and falls in commodity prices. This could undermine fragile economic growth in vulnerable developing countries.

#WorldEconomy #Economy #EconomicOutlook #EconomicRisk #GlobalEconomicGrowth #EconomicSlowdown #EconomicGrowth 
WTO forecasts sluggish trade growth
http://www.gtreview.com/news/global/wto-forecasts-sluggish-trade-growth/

WTO economists forecast growth of 2.8%, from 3.3% previously, and warned that their prediction remained vulnerable to a cloudy outlook for the world economy. They also warned that even that pessimistic view may be subject to more downgrades. For decades before the crisis global trade reliably grew at twice the rate of the global economy as part of what some have called an era of 'hyperglobalisation', fed by the rise of #China and other #emergingmarkets.

The WTO said it expected a rebound in trade next year, forecasting growth of 3.9% in 2016. The organisation also said it expected exports to be stronger from #developedeconomies this year than from emerging markets. Exports from developed economies should rise 3% this year while those of developing economies would grow 2.4%.


#GlobalTrade   #WTO   #WorldTrade   #Globalisation   #FreeTrade   #FTA   #WorldEconomy   #Economy   #EconomicStagnation  
#WorldTradeOrganisation slashes forecast for #globalcommerce
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/836e7338-6769-11e5-97d0-1456a776a4f5.html#axzz3nUH3esuS

 #Australia has been ranked as the world's happiest nation among #developedeconomies for the third year running.

7 years after the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, the #worldeconomy continued to stumble in 2015. According to the United Nations’ report World Economic Situation and Prospects 2016, the average growth rate in #developedeconomies has declined by more than 54% since the crisis. An estimated 44 million people are unemployed in developed countries, about 12 million more than in 2007, while inflation has reached its lowest level since the crisis.

More worryingly, advanced countries’ growth rates have also become more volatile. This is surprising, because, as developed economies with fully open capital accounts, they should have benefited from the free flow of capital and international risk sharing - and thus experienced little macroeconomic volatility. Furthermore, social transfers, including unemployment benefits, should have allowed households to stabilise their consumption.

#Economy   #EconomicOutlook   #EconomicGrowth   #QE   #EconomicRecovery   #EconomicPolicy   #EconomicRisk   #EconomicSlowdown #QuantitativeEasing   #MonetaryPolicy   
What's holding back the world economy?
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/feb/08/whats-holding-back-world-economy-joseph-e-stiglitz

According to the World Bank, #internationaltrade has helped reduce by half the proportion of the global population living in extreme #poverty. #China, for instance, saw its rate of extreme poverty drop from 36% at the end of the 1990s to 6% in 2011. In a single generation, #Vietnam has moved from being one of the world's poorest nations to middle-income status, which has allowed increased investment in health and education. But the #developedeconomies have also benefited through higher living standards, caused by a more efficient allocation of capital between countries, improved productivity and lower prices for consumers.

#GlobalEconomy #Globalisation #Protectionism #GlobalTrade #EconomicGrowth #EconomicDevelopment
We shouldn't turn our backs on the #worldeconomy
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/we-shouldnt-turn-our-backs-on-the-world-economy-20160926-grp5dt.html

The IMF has warned that sluggish #economicgrowth throughout the world could bolster an anti-trade backlash that has become a feature of politics in both the #UnitedStates and #Europe. The presidential election in the United States will be a talking point, but a weak global economy and the rise of anti-trade and anti-global sentiment are also expected to be popular subjects for discussion.

The fund’s outlook for growth in #developedeconomies was particularly gloomy, with a 1.6% expansion expected for this year, compared with 2.1% last year. #Emergingeconomies, expected to grow at a 4.1% clip, were largely driving #globalgrowth now. Highlighting concerns that many have about the United States economy’s ability to attain a robust level of growth, the fund slashed its forecast for economic growth in the United States to 1.6% this year, from 2.2% in July.

#GlobalEconomy #EconomicRisk #EconomicOutlook #Economy #Protectionism #Globalisation
I.M.F. Warns of Anti-Trade Sentiment Amid Weak Global Economy
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/05/business/dealbook/imf-economic-growth-forecast-trade.html

The “NEW” Internet is different in many ways from the old Internet – It’s amazing to see how much the #InternetHasChanged in a mere #10YRS. Its centre of gravity has shifted from fixed to omnipresent access, from #DevelopedEconomies to #EmergingMarkets, and from a passive to a social medium. To win, companies must strengthen their digital presence – Check out this Infographic from the Boston Consulting Group: http://ow.ly/i/5gio8 | The scale and speed of change is indelibly altering industry strategies and the way companies do business. It’s no longer a luxury to want to reach a global market – that are just a click away – Find out how Capita TI can help: http://bit.ly/NQz3Ni