Global Economic Crisis

Sheldon Filger-blogger for GlobalEconomicCrisis.com

Christine Lagarde, chair of the International Monetary Fund- – IMF- – added to the anxieties of the rich and powerful gathered for the annual pilgrimage to Davos , Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. Cutting the IMF forecast for 2019 from 3.7 % to 3.5 %, she was acknowledging what is already widely known; there are a growing number of indicators that the global economy is headed for a hard landing.

There is growing instability in major economies, for example the Brexit snafu afflicting the UK and the European Union. There is political gridlock in the USA. And then there is China, the economic gorilla in the room,

The trade wars initiated by the Trump  administration  have harmed both American and Chinese economies. But China is facing other forces; a growing level of indebtedness afflicting both public and private companies. The recent data reflecting the sharp drop in official Chinese GDP growth statistics reflect a major slowing down of the Chinese economy.

Unlike the economic crisis of 2008. when the United Sates was the primary trigger, the next major global recession will most likely be unleashed by events in China, now the world’s second largest economy.