Goldman Sachs Cuts U.S. GDP Growth Forecast As Trade Tension With China Fuels Recession Fears
Jan Hatzius, chief economist at leading global investment banker Goldman Sachs, has issued an updated projection for U.S. Q4 GDP growth; a lackluster 1.8 percent. This reflects a reduction of 20 basis points from the previous forecast, with Hatzius conceding that the U.S. trade dispute with China has had a negative impact far beyond what was originally assessed by Goldman Sachs.
The latest projection from Goldman Sachs on trends in the American economy are indicative of a growing belief that the ongoing and escalating trade war between China and the United Sates has greatly increased fears that it will trigger a global recession.
It appears that the leadership circles in Beijing are willing to face a major recession that severely afflicts the Chinese economy as a price worth paying to bring down President Trump in the upcoming 2020 U.S. presidential election. What President Xi Jinping of China may be ignoring is that a global recession may have unpredictable and disastrous repercussions for the Chinese economy and the country’s social stability, and jeopardize the future of Beijing’s “One Belt-One Road” initiative.