West Michigan and the Global Economy

In its October 2019 World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast global economic growth for 2019 at 3%, the lowest since 2008-09, the time of the Great Recession. The IMF also projected that economic growth would continue to fall over the next few years for the “Group of Four” – the U.S., the 19-country Eurozone, China, and Japan – even though global growth during that time would increase, buoyed by economic recoveries in emerging markets. The IMF estimates that this Group of Four has a combined GDP equivalent to approximately 62% of global GDP, so a slowing of growth for the group is a significant drag on the global economy